(HELENA) Employees at a new supermarket in Helena were putting on the final touches Saturday, before opening their doors Sunday morning.
WinCo Foods will open for business at 9 a.m. Sunday. The store on North Sanders Street has been under construction for months. A banner on the side has counted down the number of days to the opening.
“We’re very excited to be open and very excited to welcome the community into our store,” said store manager Jason Stopher. “It’s really going to be their store, and we really want to get going and show them what we have to offer.”
WinCo is known for its emphasis on low prices. The store features a “Wall of Values,” an aisle near the front of the building that showcases products with the greatest savings.
WinCo also features a large bulk foods section, where customers can buy items like grains, nuts and candies by weight, in whatever quantity they want.
The Helena store and a store in Billings are both opening Sunday. They will be the first two WinCo locations in Montana. The company now has 126 stores in ten states.
“WinCo is employee-owned, so it gives us a lot of pride and passion in what we do,” said Stopher, who says he has worked for the company for 20 years. He moved to the Helena area to lead the new store.
The Helena store currently has about 150 full- and part-time employees, most of whom came from the Helena community.
WinCo leaders say, in order to maintain low prices, they will not accept credit card payments, though they will take debit cards and benefits like SNAP and WIC. Additionally, customers bag their own groceries.
