IGA ANNOUNCES HOMETOWN PROUD MARKETING EVENT

CHICAGO, IL - IGA today announced the third annual Hometown Proud marketing event will be held in participating IGA stores across the country April 24-May 8, 2005. The marketing event serves the dual purpose of promoting the necessity of fire safety education, while honoring the heroism of those who keep our IGA communities on the leading edge of fire prevention. Red Oval Family partners The Coca-Cola Company, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods and Nestlé Purina PetCare Company will be sponsoring the marketing event.

“Volunteer fire departments are a way of life in many of our IGA areas,” said IGA Marketing Events Coordinator Zorona Chapman. “The event gives the store a way to connect with the community on that level. We foresee that Hometown Proud 2005 could actually lead to annual fire safety weeks in all IGA towns across America.”

The event is centered around the Hometown Proud 2005 essay contest. The contest asks participants in 200 words or less to answer the essay question "How Does Your Hometown Proud Family Contribute to Community Fire Safety?" Essays will be judged by a panel of experts compiled by IGA, INC.

Consumer Prizes

Grand Prize
Seven grand-prize winners will we awarded all-expense paid trips for two to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., as well as $500 checks to be donated to their local fire departments.

1st Place
Fourteen first-place winners will be awarded a $100 IGA Certificheck (to be used in an IGA store), and an Opry History Picture Book autographed by Opry members.

2nd Place
Fourteen second-place winners will be awarded a $50 IGA Certificheck.

Red Oval Display Contest Prizes

Grand Prize
The IGA Store with the best Hometown Proud retail display will win an all-expense paid trip for two to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., and $2,000 to donate to its local firefighter organization.

1st Place
Seven first-place winners (one from each of IGA’s seven marketing regions) will receive a check for $2,000 to donate to their local firefighter organizations.

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.