IGA Opens First Store On Guam
Island Fresh IGA Hosts Grand Opening on May 23
(CHICAGO, IL) –IGA today announced it has opened the first IGA grocery store on the island of Guam. Island Fresh IGA, located in Chalan Pago, Guam, is owned by Cost U Less, a division of Winnipeg, Manitoba-based The North West Company Inc. The grand opening took place on Saturday, May 23. Island Fresh IGA is The North West Company’s first IGA supermarket and is serviced by IGA Licensed Distribution Center SUPERVALU’s Tacoma, Wash., facility.
The store, formerly known as Hita Supermarket, was purchased by The North West Company in late 2007. Since that time the company has invested $3 million to upgrade the 25,000 square-foot facility, which features 13,000 square-feet of retail space.
Island Fresh IGA offers a complete shopping experience with a full-service deli, bakery, meat and produce, as well as a full line of IGA Private Brand products and consumer package goods. The store also features an international aisle with an expanded assortment of Asian and local Island foods.
“We are so pleased to join together with The North West Company to bring the IGA Brand to Guam,” said IGA Global CEO Tom Haggai. “We look forward to a long and productive relationship with The North West Company, and to delivering IGA’s promise of neighborly, community-focused customer service to the people of Guam.”
“IGA is a great fit for The North West Company,” Ben Piatt, vice president; procurement and marketing for The North West Company, said. “Together we share a long tradition of working to enrich the everyday lives of our customers and enhance the communities in which they live. Island Fresh IGA will live up to the IGA name and be the leading shopping destination in its market by consistently providing the helpful, friendly service and unwavering Hometown Proud community support that is the hallmark of the IGA Brand.”
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.
The North West Company is a leading retailer of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighborhoods in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. Currently North West operates 223 stores under the trading names Northern, NorthMart, Giant Tiger, AC Value Center, Cost-U-Less, and with the opening of its most recent store in Guam, IGA.