IGA NAMES 2005 INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS OF THE YEAR

Paul VanderJagt Receives Prestigious Global Award

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced Paul VanderJagt , owner of Van’s Evergreen IGA Plus in Billings, Mont., has been named one of six 2005 IGA International Retailers of the Year. VanderJagt was chosen for the annual award from the 4,400 IGA Retailers worldwide. A committee of IGA executives and food industry experts based their decisions on performance of the retailers in areas ranging from leadership and innovation to hometown involvement and employee development. VanderJagt was honored at IGA's 2005 International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony held at the IGA Global Summit on Tuesday, March 1, at Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, Calif.

“In April of this year VanderJagt will celebrate an unforgettable milestone: the 50th anniversary of his career in the food industry and his 70th birthday,” said Dr. Thomas Haggai, chairman and CEO of IGA. “How proud we are to name him International Retailer of the Year for 2005. A member of IGA since 1962, VanderJagt currently owns five thriving IGA supermarkets in Montana and travels throughout the week devoting personal attention to each.”

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 37 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.