IGA NAMES 2005 INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS OF THE YEAR

Alan Atwood Receives Prestigious Global Award

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced Alan Atwood, owner of Payless IGA Supermarkets in Coeburn, Va., has been named one of six 2005 IGA International Retailers of the Year. Atwood 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. Atwood was honored at IGA's 2005 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony held at the IGA Global Summit on Tuesday, March 1, at Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, Calif.

The Atwood family has been in the grocery business since Alan’s grandfather opened a produce stand in 1948. That produce stand has evolved into three successful IGA supermarkets in Wise County, Va., including this year’s award winner Payless IGA in Coeburn, Virginia.

"IGA International Retailer of the Year Alan Atwood is Hometown Proud in every sense of the word," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. “His commitments to strong customer service and community support have made Payless IGA indispensable to Coeburn.”

“I’d like to thank the entire IGA family for naming me one of the 2005 International Retailers of the Year,” Atwood said. “ It is an honor and a privilege to be part of such an outstanding organization. Without the support of my parents, our distribution company and my dedicated employees, receiving this award would never have been possible. In the coming years I assure you that we will do our best at Payless IGA to strive for excellence and make IGA proud.”

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 37 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.