WinCo eyes Cheyenne for first Wyoming store

Bargain grocer WinCo Foods is circling Cheyenne for what would be its first Wyoming location, according to local officials. City Councilman Mark Rinne said Cheyenne recently annexed roughly 17 acres earmarked for a WinCo near the Sam’s Club on the city’s west side—one more step in a quiet march toward opening day.

The Planning and Development Department has already held a pre-application meeting with company reps, and the council this month signed off on a rezoning dubbed the “WinCo Subdivision.” Formal plans, however, haven’t been filed, and WinCo isn’t talking yet.

If it lands, WinCo would jump into a competitive grocery scene anchored by King Soopers, Albertsons, Safeway, Natural Grocers, Sprouts and Walmart. The timing also tracks with the Boise-based chain’s broader push along the Front Range. In Colorado, WinCo has snapped up a former Jax Outdoor Gear, Farm & Ranch in Loveland for $7.6 million—apparently its third site in the state after earlier moves in Thornton and Firestone. Loveland sits about an hour south of Cheyenne, hinting at a regional cluster strategy.

The company’s website is touting a Sept. 29 opening in San Tan Valley, Arizona, and teasing news for Wichita Falls, Texas, but there’s still no official mention of Wyoming or Colorado. That’s typical for the employee-owned chain, which tends to keep expansion chatter low-key until it’s ready to build. WinCo now operates 142 stores across the West and Southwest and has added about 50 locations in the past decade—steady growth powered by an ultra-no-frills model and rock-bottom prices.

For Cheyenne shoppers, the takeaway is simple: while nothing’s final, the groundwork is being laid. If the project clears the remaining hurdles, Wyoming could soon get its first taste of WinCo’s bulk bins, 24-hour aisles, and hard-discount ethos.

The original story by Mark Hamstra for Supermarket News.