IGA Names 2004 International Retailers of the Year

CHICAGO - IGA here has selected five retailers, including four U.S. stores, to receive its prestigious Global Award for excellence in retailing.

The retailers chosen are Jeff Clark of Attica IGA in Attica, Ind.; Troy Cochran of Valley IGA Plus in Waterford, Calif.; Rick Keil of Keil's IGA Food Stores in San Diego, Calif.; Graeme Legge of IGA Tuckerbag Moss Vale in Moss Vale, New South Wales, Australia; and William Lukeman of Hometown Proud Food IGA in Brentwood, N.Y.

The winners were chosen for the annual award from the 4,400 IGA retailers worldwide. A committee of IGA executives and food industry experts based their decisions on performance of the retailers in areas ranging from leadership and innovation to hometown involvement and employee development. All five retailers were honored at IGA's 2004 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony, held March 16 at the Marriott's Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"Our 2004 International Retailers of the Year represent the very best the retail world has to offer," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, IGA chairman and c.e.o. "While each has demonstrated a strong desire to succeed, coupled with innovative leadership techniques, none has forgotten the simple hometown values that make their stores more than supermarkets, but rather true community centers."

IGA, the only global supermarketer based in the United States, is the world's largest voluntary supermarket network, with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The alliance includes more than 4,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more than 55 major manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA ranks in the top 10 in world food supermarketing, and has operations in 48 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths, and territories on all six inhabited continents.