IGA ANNOUNCES IGA 2008 FIVE STAR RETAILERS

117 Retailers Achieved Five Star Status in IGA’s Assessment Program

CHICAGO, IL - IGA USA today announced 117 IGA USA Retailers have been awarded the IGA Five Star Excellence honor for their achievements in 2007 in IGA’s new Assessment Program. Five Star is the highest level of recognition possible under the Assessment Program’s rigorous new standards.

Based on Retailer input calling for an assessment process that focused more strongly on customer experience, IGA in 2006 suspended the current Assessment Program. IGA’s National Retailer Advisory Board then began a year-long process of revisions designed to elevate IGA’s Brand image in the eyes of the consumer. New program elements were developed in conjunction with TrendSource, an independent business intelligence consulting company experienced in providing similar services to other top-tier retailers. The resulting revised Assessment Program, introduced at the beginning of 2007, consisted of a series of four unrevealed appraisals and one revealed appraisal. Each of the store appraisals were aligned with IGA’s four quarterly marketing events, and were performed by TrendSource-trained Customer Experience Observers (CEOs). During each of the visits retailers and their stores were appraised by CEOs on performance in the following categories: operations, service, branding, marketing and community support. Following each of the appraisals, real-time reports highlighting areas of improvement from a customer’s perspective were then made available to the retailers and their wholesale distribution partners.

“Because IGA Retailers and their distribution partners have real-time access to appraisal reports, they have an immediate and effective guide to follow in order to provide their customers with the preferred shopping experience,” said Jim Walz, IGA vice president, marketing, branding and business development.

Throughout the year a committee of IGA Retailers and senior management also met each quarter to review the results of the assessments and continue to refine the program. When the program ended in November, over 5,600 in-store appraisals had been conducted in the course of the assessment periods.

In addition to the five appraisals conducted at each IGA store, the revised Assessment Program also featured a second component known as the Interactive Web Response (IWR) Customer Feedback Program. This Web-based tool gives IGA customers the opportunity to provide real-time feedback to their community IGA Retailers.

Though participation in the customers’ feedback portion of the program was optional for IGA Retailers, Walz maintains that it has been a highly successful component of the revised Assessment Program. “Participating stores have generated over 16,000 unique responses from customers,” Walz said. “Obviously that information is being individually utilized by the participating retailers to meet the immediate needs and daily requests of their consumers, but this data is also being harvested and analyzed so that we can work as an Alliance to better our customers’ shopping experience.”

According to IGA USA CEO Mark Batenic, the revised Assessment Program’s focus on customer experience is also helping IGA Retailers leverage the power of the IGA Brand. “The heart and soul of IGA retailing is providing our customers with the very best level of service along with a personalized, community-focused experience,” Batenic said. “This Assessment Program serves as a reminder of the importance that total experience plays in customer loyalty and in the power of the IGA Brand.”

For a complete list of IGA’s Five Star Retailers, visit the IGA Web site at http://www.iga.com/aboutIGA/5star.asp

IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The Alliance includes nearly 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 has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.