IGA NAMES 2004 INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS OF THE YEAR

Rick Keil to Receive Prestigious Global Award

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced Rick Keil of Keil’s IGA Food Stores in San Diego, Calif., has been named one of five 2004 IGA International Retailers of the Year. Keil was 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. Keil was honored at IGA's 2004 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony held on Tuesday, March 16 at the Marriott’s Harbor Beach Resort & Spa in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

"IGA International Retailers of the Year Rick Keil represent the very best the retail world has to offer," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. "Keil’s dedication to the IGA System has never faltered, even in the face of goliath-like chain competition. In the seven years since Keil’s IGA Food Stores opened in the heart of San Diego, he has created not just a successful grocery store, but a true community center."

“I'm very honored to be selected as one of the IGA International Retailers of the Year, and proud to represent an extraordinary team of people that have made it possible for me to receive this award,” Keil said. “Seven years ago we hooked our wagon to a small group of IGA Retailers in the desert southwest who dared to believe the motto ‘That together we are better,’ and its been a wild ride ever since. Over the years, our band of independent retailers have grown and evolved into a tight knit group of survivors that I'm proud to call my friends and comrade in arms. I'm equally as proud to represent the group of team members that run our stores in San Diego. I'm always excited to talk about the extraordinary job our people do, and how our folks take great delight in going nose to nose with the major chains everyday.”

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 the 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA ranks in the top 10 in world food supermarketing. IGA has operations in 48 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.