What URM Stores does

URM Stores, Inc. is a privately held retailer-owned food distribution cooperative founded in 1921 and headquartered in Spokane, Washington. The company is legally structured as a cooperative where the shareholders are the same independent grocery retailers who are URM's primary customers, creating a dual owner-customer relationship across 114 Member-Owners representing approximately 222 grocery stores plus over 1,000 foodservice, convenience store, and institutional customers across Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. URM provides wholesale procurement, warehousing, transportation, and distribution of more than 22,000 SKUs from a 680,000 square foot distribution center supported by an owned fleet of 58 trucks and 130 trailers delivering approximately 20,000 loads and 4 million miles annually.

URM's core products and services span the full grocery value chain: physical distribution of dry grocery, frozen, dairy, deli, fresh meat, produce (via Peirone Produce subsidiary), bakery, and general merchandise; retail support services including store development, advertising and marketing, financial services, insurance (via URM Insurance Agency), accounting (via FMS Solutions), and supermarket sanitation; and technology services including NCR point-of-sale equipment resale, NCR Connected Payments, the RIMS item management system, and the SMART analytical reporting tool. Warehouse operations use Vocellect voice-activated picking and a Retalix dock scheduler. URM also operates six retail Cash & Carry stores open to the public, a Foodservice Division serving restaurants and schools, and a Convenience Store Division serving non-member retailers.

URM generates revenue primarily through wholesale distribution to member-owners (with net earnings allocated back as patronage dividends), transaction-based foodservice and convenience store distribution, retail sales through Cash & Carry stores, and managed services revenue from insurance. In 2016, URM joined Topco Associates — the largest U.S. retail food purchasing group with $200 billion in retail sales — and in 2018 transitioned from the legacy Western Family private label brand to Food Club, gaining access to over 2,600 Food Club SKUs plus TopCare, Valu Time, Simply Done, and Crav'n. In 2026, URM launched a strategic partnership with RSA America to deploy a loyalty, digital marketing, retail media, and AI-enabled commerce platform across its network. Annual sales volume exceeds $1.8 billion with over 3,000 employees, making URM one of the largest employers in Spokane and the 5th largest privately owned company in Washington State per the 2025 Puget Sound Business Journal ranking.

Name

URM Stores

Legal name

URM Stores, Inc.

Website

https://urmstores.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1921

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Food Distribution

NAICS

General Line Grocery Merchant Wholesalers (42441), General Warehousing and Storage (493110)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141), Public Warehousing & Storage (4220)

akta.pro primary industry

E-commerce & Omnichannel Fulfillment Centers (Non-Temp Controlled) (TLALAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food & Beverage Frozen Storage (Meat, Seafood, Dairy, Produce, Bakery) (TLALACAA)

Keywords

• Grocery wholesale distribution
• Retailer-owned cooperative
• Food service distribution
• Private label brands
• Warehouse and logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Spokane

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Distribution Revenue: URM operates as a retailer-owned cooperative where its core business is the purchasing, warehousing, and delivery of merchandise inventory to Member-Owners. The company generates revenue through wholesale distribution fees and cooperative patronage departments. All net earnings on business done with or for Member-Owners through patronage departments are allocated and paid to Member-Owners in the form of patronage dividends.
2. Food Service Division: Services restaurants, schools, casinos, and other food away from home businesses, delivering products throughout Eastern Washington, Northeast Oregon, and North Idaho.
3. Cash & Carry Retail Operations: Six retail stores open to the public featuring both institutional products and retail items, located in Washington and Idaho.
4. Convenience Store Division: Provides goods and services to traditional convenience stores as well as small grocery stores that are not Member-Owners.
5. URM Insurance Agency: Provides low-cost business insurance coverage tailored to the needs of the grocery industry, offering commercial and personal insurance including health, home and business coverage.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

URM Stores is a retailer-owned food distribution cooperative that purchases, warehouses, and delivers grocery merchandise to independent grocers across the Pacific Northwest. The company provides comprehensive wholesale services including procurement, warehousing, transportation, store development, financial services, insurance, advertising, technology, and sanitation programs to its member-owner retailers.

Product overview

URM Stores is a retailer-owned food distribution cooperative (co-op) serving independent grocers in the Pacific Northwest. Rather than a unified software platform, URM operates as a traditional wholesale distributor providing physical products and operational services including procurement, warehousing, distribution, transportation, and retail support services. The company operates multiple retail formats (Cash & Carry stores, Food Service, Convenience Stores) and provides technology services including NCR point-of-sale systems, payment processing (NCR Connected Payments via First Data/Telecheck), item management systems (RIMS, SMART), and 24-hour IT support. URM also offers insurance, advertising/marketing, store development, and financial services to its member-owners. In 2026, URM announced a strategic partnership with RSA America to deploy a loyalty, digital marketing, retail media, and AI-enabled commerce platform across its network of 265 independent grocers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Food Club: Private label brand offered through Topco Associates partnership, with history winning shopper loyalty since 1945. Offers over 2,600 SKUs.
• Western Family
• TopCare
• Valu Time
• Simply Done
• Crav'n
• Merchant's Craft

Products and services

• Warehousing & Distribution
• Transportation & Trucking
• Cash & Carry Stores
• Food Service Division
• Convenience Store Division
• URM Insurance Agency
• Advertising & Marketing Services
• Store Development Services
• Financial Services
• Chemical/Sanitation Program
• Fresh Meat Programs
• Bakery/Deli Programs
• Food Club Private Label Brand
• Merchant's Craft Brand
• URM Technology Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60 URM-affiliated stores currently live on RSA America digital platform with over 100 additional stores signed and onboarding in phases through 2026, enabling enterprise-level intelligence capabilities.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RSA AmericacoreTechnology or Integration · 21 May 2026RSA America and URM Stores launched a strategic partnership to deploy a centrally managed loyalty, digital marketing, retail media, and AI-enabled commerce platform across URM's network of approximately 265 independent grocers in the Pacific Northwest. Over 60 stores are currently live on the platform with over 100 additional stores signed and onboarding in phases through 2026. The initiative enables smaller independents to access tools historically available only to national chains, representing a network-wide digital transformation with a 'no retailer left behind' philosophy.
• Topco AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016URM Stores joined Topco Associates in 2016 to advance its mission of providing member-owners with tools and support to thrive. TOPCO represents $200 billion in retail sales and thousands of stores. Through this partnership, URM transitioned from Western Family brand to Food Club brand (offering 2,600+ SKUs) and gained access to TopCare, Valu Time, Simply Done, and Crav'n private label brands.
• FMS SolutionsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvides full accounting services and payroll processing for Member-Owners. Contact: Mark Dawkins at FMS Solutions.
• Acosta Sales and Marketing / Impact Group LinesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales and marketing broker partnership for brand promotion and merchandise support.
• Advantage Sales and MarketingminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales and marketing broker partnership for brand promotion and merchandise support.
• CrossmarkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSales and marketing broker partnership for brand promotion and merchandise support.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Associated Food Stores: Retailer-owned wholesale grocery cooperative serving independent retailers across the Intermountain West. Closely comparable to URM in cooperative structure, member-owner model, and focus on empowering independent grocers to compete against national chains.
• Wakefern Food Corp: Largest retailer-owned cooperative in the US, supplying ShopRite and other member banners. Comparable to URM as a retailer-owned wholesale cooperative, though substantially larger and operating in the Northeast.
• C&S Wholesale Grocers: Largest wholesale grocery distributor in the US, serving independent retailers, chains, and military commissaries. Comparable to URM as a wholesale grocery distributor serving independent retail banners, though C&S is substantially larger and operates nationally.
• UNFI: Largest publicly traded wholesale natural and conventional food distributor in North America. Comparable to URM in grocery wholesale distribution to independent and chain retailers, but with national scale and public-market capital access.
• KeHE Distributors: Wholesale food distributor specializing in natural, organic, specialty, and fresh products to independent retailers and chains. Comparable to URM in serving independent grocers with broad grocery assortments, though KeHE is privately held by Peak Rock Capital.
• SpartanNash: Public food solutions company combining wholesale food distribution with retail grocery operations across the Midwest. Comparable to URM as a food distributor serving independent retailers, with the additional retail-grocery vertical integration that URM achieves through Rosauers.

Broad incumbents

• Topco Associates: Largest American retail food group purchasing organization, providing private label, procurement, and marketing services to member companies. Comparable to URM as a cooperative purchasing organization in the grocery sector, though Topco is a purchasing/marketing alliance rather than a physical distributor.
• Performance Food Group: Large public foodservice and convenience distributor with Vistar small-format retail arm. Adjacent comparable to URM as a broadline food distributor, though PFG primarily serves foodservice and convenience rather than grocery retail.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/urmwarehouse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about URM Stores