WinCo Foods has hired approximately 205 employees for its new Centralia Station location out of a total of 994 people who showed up at WorkSource of Lewis County’s three hiring events at Centralia College this week.
Hiring interviews for all positions at the new WinCo, which is expected to open this summer, were held on Feb. 25, 26 and 27 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at WorkSource Lewis County, located at 500 Centralia College Blvd. in Centralia, with hopeful applicants lined up and down the street.
Most positions start at $17.50 per hour, with benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance coverage, employee stock options and career growth opportunities within the company.
WinCo initially intended to hire approximately 190 employees for the Centralia location, but hired a few extra after receiving an astounding number of applications, according to WorkSource Lewis County.
Lewis County had a 6.2% unemployment rate in December 2024, up from the 5.9% the county reported in November and the 4.8% it reported in October, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD).
Lewis County’s unemployment rate was higher than the statewide unemployment rate of 4.5% and neighboring Thurston County’s unemployment rate of 4.6% for December 2024, according to the ESD.
Data for January and February 2025 was not publicly available as of Friday morning.
WinCo is the anchor tenant for the Port of Centralia’s new Centralia Station shopping center development, which will also have buildings for other businesses, including a Chipotle fast food franchise location.
A 24-hour, employee-owned, warehouse-style grocery store chain, WinCo will be in an 84,000-square-foot building on the Centralia Station property north of another 11,000-square-foot retail building and a 2,750-square-foot restaurant building for Chipotle, according to site plans.
It is located at the intersection of Art Lehman Avenue and South Yew Street just off of the Interstate 5 Mellen Street exit.
