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| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1926; 99 years ago (May 1926) |
| Founders | Independent retailer owners |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Area served | 22 countries |
IGA, Inc.,trading asIGA, is an international affiliation offranchisedgrocery stores that are independently owned and operated. As of 2017, the network included nearly 5,000 supermarkets in more than 30 countries, representing $36 billion in annual sales — with many IGA stores operating in small-town markets and owned by their managing families.[1]
Headquartered inChicago, Illinois, IGA was founded in 1926 the United States as theIndependent Grocers Alliance.[2]
IGA was founded in May 1926 when a group of 100 independent retailers inPoughkeepsie, New York, andSharon, Connecticut, led by J. Frank Grimes, organized into a single marketing system, primarily to help independent grocers compete against the emerging national grocery chain, e.g., the now defunctA&P. IGA management provided marketing guidance and consistent supply chain access to its IGA stores, many located in smaller cities and towns across the U.S., using the "Hometown Proud Supermarkets" slogan.[3]
By the end of its first year, the group had expanded to include more than 150 retailers, and shortly after its founding, the company began making and marketing its own canned food brand. By 1930, over 8,000 grocery stores were using the IGA name. As of 2024, IGA operated with over 6200 different locations worldwide.[citation needed]
William Olsen was the company CEO until 1988, when he was replaced by Thomas Haggai, who retired in 2016.[3] Afer Mark Batenic replaced Haggai, John Ross — a former lot boy, store manager, president of data analytics firm Inmar Intelligence and author ofFire in the Zoo — became IGA's new president and CEO.[1] In 2024 IGA purchased Scanner Applications, owned by Inmar, to streamline in-store promotions.[4]
The stores in the alliance remain independently owned and operated. The alliance oversees several resources shared among the member stores, including, most visibly, the IGAstore brand products and theirlogistical distribution network. The alliance also provides training and assessment programs and an online advertising platform. It regularly coordinates promotional events andcharity fundraising events that benefit store communities.
As of 2023, IGA was located in 22 countries.[5] There were 763 locations in 38 states and territories in the US. The states with the highest concentration areNorth Carolina,South Carolina, andKentucky.[6]
The IGA brand inAustralia is owned byMetcash, an Australian conglomerate retailer and wholesaler. The company supplies groceries, promotional materials, and other things to a large number of locally owned Australian supermarkets and a few other brands like Foodland and Friendly Grocer. Collectively, it is the fourth-biggest competitor in major Australian supermarkets, afterColes,Woolworths andAldi. There are 1,400 independently owned IGA stores throughout Australia, with most running their own IGA Community Chest, which raises funds to support local communities and charities.
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InCanada (apart fromBritish Columbia), IGA is a group of independent grocers supplied bySobeys, which franchises the name. Acquired by Sobeys as part of its purchase of theOshawa Group Ltd., it now operates primarily inQuebec.
HHV. Whitchurch is the only company inDominica that follows the IGA. It has one location in Dominica, inRoseau.
Walter Mart Supermarket is the first and only alliance member in thePhilippines. The store has 47 locations in the country, mostly inMetro Manila andLuzon - fromGapan, Nueva Ecija in the north toTanauan, Batangas, in the south.[7]
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