IGA LAUNCHES “SUPA IGA” FORMAT

CHICAGO, IL - IGA announced today IGA Australia’s larger stores now have a new name. The “Supa IGA” format has officially been launched. Currently there are 38 stores in Queensland, 24 in NSW and 76 in Victoria that will adopt the new moniker. The combined stores serve close to 300,000 customers every day.

The launch coincides with communications company Clemenger Harvie Edge’s multi-million dollar marketing campaign for IGA Australia. The theme for the marketing campaign is “see what independence brings you”. The campaign serves to highlight the fact that IGA can directly compete with national retailers on price, product, range and service.

“Our rationale behind this name change to Supa IGA is to provide a distinct identity for the larger format stores, where around 60 percent of all IGA customers shop,” said Andrew Reitzer, president, CEO and chairman of Metcash, IGA Australia’s International Licensed Company and Distribution Center. “Supa IGA brings with it a better understanding of what shoppers can expect—a super range in a bigger store.”

“After three years of record growth under Metcash, it was no surprise that our IGA stores set yet another record in 2003 of 1300 stores having 7.1 same store growth,” said Dr. Thomas S. Haggai, IGA chairman and CEO. “Undoubtedly, this may well be a record leading growth of supermarkets in the world. Its just natural that our IGA Family, Metcash and all the stores they supply would continue to add another format in Supa IGA to further their goal of making the consumers’ wishes their command.”

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 36 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.