PAUL MATOVICH NAMED IGA 2002 INTERNATIONAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO, IL – Paul Matovich, owner of Columbus IGA Plus in Columbus, Mont., has been named one of seven IGA 2002 International Retailers of the Year.

Matovich was chosen for the annual award from the 4,400 IGA Retailers worldwide. A committee of Food Industry experts selected Matovich based on his exceptional performance in areas ranging from leadership and innovation to hometown involvement and employee development. He will honored at IGAÕs 2002 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 4, 2002, during the Food Marketing Institute's Supermarket Industry Exposition in Chicago.

"Paul exemplifies IGA's Hometown Proud spirit in every way," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. "He puts forth the effort that makes Columbus IGA not just a food store, but a community center. Paul has always been an asset to our IGA family and we are extremely proud to call him an International Retailer of the Year."

Matovich, who has been a member of IGA since 1978, has evolved his store from 5,800 square feet to its current size of 20,822 square feet. Under his leadership, the store has also seen a six-fold increase in sales since 1980. In addition to his day-to-day duties at Columbus IGA, Matovich regularly participates in a number of fundraising events, for which he was recently named Columbus, Montana, 2001 Businessman of the Year.

"It's an honor to have been named an IGA International Retailer of the Year, but one I certainly could not have been granted were it not for tremendous employee and community support, as well as extremely helpful operational support from SUPERVALU INC., IGA, INC., vendors and broker-representatives," Matovich said. "We thank them all for helping us make this a thriving business for the past 27 years."

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 4,400 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 37 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. IGA has operations in 48 states and 41 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.