IGA NAMES 2007 INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS OF THE YEAR

Ian Ashcroft Receives Prestigious Global Award

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced Ian Ashcroft of Ashcroft’s Supa IGA Plus Liquor, Orange NSW, Australia has been named one of eight 2007 IGA International Retailers of the Year. Ashcroft was chosen for the annual award from the 4,000 IGA Retailers worldwide. The awards were presented during the IGA International Retailers of the Year Awards Dinner Ceremony, held during the IGA Global Summit on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Marriott’s Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla.

A committee of food industry executives chose the winners from a pool of applicants submitted by IGA’s Licensed Distribution Centers. Criteria for judging included IGA Brand support, merchandising, leadership and innovation, Hometown Proud community involvement and employee development.

Aschcroft opened his store in Orange in 1988. During his ownership the store has earned a number of national IGA Australia retailing awards, including those for the meat, liquor and bakery departments. In 2006, Ashcroft was awarded IGA Australia’s highest retailing award, IGA National Retailer of the Year.

“Australian International Retailer of the Year Ian Ashcroft comes to us from a company where any way it is measured, it is the strongest IGA company in the Alliance,” IGA Global President, Chairman and CEO Dr. Thomas Haggai said. “IGA Global couldn’t have any better representation than that of Ian Ashcroft. His dedication to his community and his customers is manifested in everything he does in the day to day workings of his store.

IGA 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 than 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers encompassing everything from grocery to equipment items. IGA has operations in 44 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.