Seattle's Hearing Examiner just blocked WinCo Foods from opening in the old Sam's Club at 13550 Aurora Ave N, a building that's been vacant since 2018. The SEPA appeal was filed by a group called "Lake Washington Working Families."
Sounds like concerned neighbors, right? Let's talk about a pattern. /1
WinCo is the 2nd-largest employee-owned company in America. 145 stores across 10 states. 20,000+ employee-owners. Over 500 employee-owners are millionaires through the company's ESOP (employee stock ownership plan).
They sell groceries cheaper than Walmart. No credit cards. No frills. Bag your own. /2
There's one thing WinCo doesn't have: a UFCW contract.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union has been trying to organize WinCo for decades and failing. WinCo employees repeatedly decline unionization because they don't want to risk their ESOP.
So the UFCW adopted a different strategy: if you can't organize the workers, block the stores. /3
The playbook is always the same:
1. A new-sounding "community group" appears shortly before a SEPA or environmental appeal deadline
2. The group files on traffic, environmental, or "community character" grounds
3. The group denies any union connection
4. WinCo says it's "thinly veiled union opposition"
Here's the exposed history, city by city. /4
FOLSOM, CA (2000): UFCW Local 588 ran a full campaign -- leafletting, picketing, rallies, door-to-door canvassing, phone banks -- and successfully pressured WinCo to withdraw its plans entirely.
This one they did openly. It didn't go well for the PR, so the tactics evolved. /5
FEDERAL WAY, WA (2001): UFCW members picketed, publicly vowing to keep going "until WinCo left or joined the union."
WinCo said picketing didn't hurt profits. Store still operates today. Direct confrontation wasn't working. /6
BRENTWOOD, CA (2002): The local planning commission approved WinCo's construction. Then the UFCW appealed the project. The commission reversed and voted it down.
First documented case of the union using the land use appeals process rather than direct action. /7
TRACY, CA (2007): WinCo accused competing grocery chain Save Mart of directing a lawsuit filed by a neighborhood group called "Tracy First" to block city approval of a WinCo store.
The community group template was now in play. /8
MT. VERNON, WA (2009): A man named Michael Frazier formed "Citizens for a Sustainable Mount Vernon" just days before the SEPA appeal deadline.
When asked what he does for a living, Frazier declined to say.
His attorney was from Bricklin & Newman LLP, the same firm that handled a prior SEPA appeal against Walmart in the same city. /9
TACOMA, WA (2011): Picket lines at WinCo's grand opening. WinCo's own Facebook page responded: "The people picketing don't understand that WinCo is owned by the very people that work in the company, therefore we do not need a union to 'protect' us from the owners, because we are one and the same." /10
BELLINGHAM, WA (2012-2013): A group called "NO to WinCo in Bellingham" organized opposition because WinCo is non-union. The Bellingham Herald ran a column opposing the store -- written by two members of UFCW Local 21.
At least they put their names on that one. /11
MOSES LAKE, WA (2015-2016): "A Stronger Moses Lake" appealed the SEPA determination, focusing on traffic impacts.
One of the two appellants, Peggy Vines, turned out to be a vice president of UFCW Local 1439.
WinCo VP Michael Read: "thinly veiled union opposition... We've seen identical tactics in other places." /12
BOZEMAN, MT (2018): Six residents appealed WinCo's site plan, citing traffic impacts and "small-town character" concerns.
The city planning department noted that all six appellants were employed at Albertson's and Safeway -- both UFCW-organized grocery stores.
The city commission voted unanimously to approve WinCo anyway. /13
SEATTLE, WA (2025-2026): A group called "Lake Washington Working Families" files a SEPA appeal against WinCo's plan to occupy the old Sam's Club on Aurora Ave N, vacant for 7 years.
The Hearing Examiner sided with the appellants. WinCo is blocked. /14
Notice what every single one of these "community groups" has in common:
They appear right before filing deadlines
They focus on traffic/environmental pretexts
They never mention that WinCo is non-union
Their members, when identified, often have direct UFCW ties
They dissolve after the fight /15
Now consider what WinCo would have brought to north Seattle:
Low-cost groceries in an area with rising food prices
Employee-ownership stakes for every worker hired
Reactivation of 144,776 sq ft of dead retail that's been vacant since 2018
24-hour access for shift workers and families on tight budgets /16
Instead, north Seattle gets a continued vacant big-box, and UFCW gets one fewer non-union competitor in the Puget Sound grocery market. This isn't community advocacy. It's incumbent protection dressed up as environmentalism. /17
The AFL-CIO once published a blog post praising WinCo as the anti-Walmart: employee-owned, higher wages, better benefits, low turnover. Then the UFCW rejoined the AFL-CIO. The post was quietly deleted.
Even organized labor can't keep its story straight on WinCo. /18
If you're in Seattle and want to understand who "Lake Washington Working Families" actually is, start with the Hearing Examiner case file for the 13550 Aurora Ave N SEPA appeal. Look at who the named representatives are. Look at who the attorney is.
This pattern predicts exactly what you'll find. /19
A union using environmental review as a weapon against an employee-owned low-cost grocery store, to protect its own market position, while naming itself after "working families"...That's not advocacy. That's regulatory capture with better branding.
Seattle deserves to know who's really blocking their grocery store. Remember that next time you hear progressives complain about store closures and food deserts. /20
Sources for those interested:
WinCo Seattle project basics (tweets 1, 14, 16):
KING 5 coverage of WinCo filing plans: king5.com/article/news/l…
SeattleInProgress permit page (project 3042320): seattleinprogress.com/project/3042320
SEPA Notice of Decision (PDF, hosted by WA Ecology): apps.ecology.wa.gov/separ/Main/SEP…
DJC: Hearing Examiner says no (paywalled): djc.com/news/re/121753…
DJC: WinCo claims old Sam's Club (paywalled): djc.com/news/re/121696…
The Moses Lake pattern (tweet 12):
iFIBER One News deep dive on who's behind the appeals: ifiberone.com/news/ifiber-on…
NewsTalk 870: WinCo believes union behind opposition: newstalk870.am/winco-foods-be…
Mount Vernon (tweet 9):
GoSkagit: WinCo project stalled by appeal: goskagit.com/news/winco-foo…
Bozeman (tweet 13):
NBC Montana: Bozeman to get WinCo despite appeal: nbcmontana.com/news/local/boz…
WinCo company history covering Folsom, Federal Way, Brentwood, Tracy, Sacramento, Tacoma (tweets 5-8, 10):
Encyclopedia.com company history: encyclopedia.com/books/politics…
Company-histories.com: company-histories.com/WinCo-Foods-In…
AFL-CIO deleting the pro-WinCo post (tweet 18):
IBTimes: Is WinCo Foods Anti-Union? AFL-CIO praises competitor, then deletes post: ibtimes.com/winco-foods-an…
LaborPains: AFL-CIO Oops Moment: laborpains.org/2013/08/13/rec…
WinCo as employee-owned (tweet 2):
Wikipedia (well-sourced): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinCo_Foo…
Seattle Hearing Examiner case search (tweet 19):
seattle.gov/hearing-examin…
Joe Veyera tweet on the MUP application:
x.com/JoeVeyera/stat…
/fin
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