BRUCE BARNES NAMED IGA 2003 INTERNATIONAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO, IL – Bruce Barnes, owner of Friendly IGA Worcester in Worcester , Cape Town , South Africa has been named one of seven IGA 2003 International Retailers of the Year.

Barnes was chosen for the annual award from the 4,400 IGA Retailers worldwide. A committee of Food Industry experts selected Barnes based on his exceptional performance in areas ranging from leadership and innovation to hometown involvement and employee development. He was honored at IGA's 2003 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony, held on Tuesday evening, March 11, during the 2003 IGA Global Summit in Palm Springs , Calif.

"Barnes performance within the past year exemplifies IGA's entrepreneurial spirit and innovative marketing," said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. "By demonstrating a true commitment to the community with Hometown Proud values, as well as operational excellence, his performance parallels, if not surpasses, the best of the retail world's standards."

During his three years as owner of Friendly IGA Worcester, Barnes has focused much of his attention on customer convenience, store ambiance and community involvement. Among his innovative ideas is a free taxi service for customers who spend more than $25 in his store, Saturday morning live entertainment within the store, and a reduced price grocery club that allows low-income shoppers to buy in bulk.

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 44 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.