May 20, 2005

SUPERMARKET OPERATIONS CLASS: SPRING 2005

CHICAGO, IL - The IGA Coca-Cola Institute was created more than a decade ago to provide a dynamic center for learning and research. In recent years, the Institute has developed into a balanced, state-of-the art training resource unlike any other offered in the industry. Not only are students from the IGA System able to use the free online manual training and certification program, they also have the opportunity to participate in personalized classroom training every six months through the IGA Coca-Cola Supermarket Operations Class. During the weeklong experience, students engage in a small, community-like atmosphere where there is a productive exchange of knowledge. They receive the information they need to become more successful in their businesses from the 20 faculty members as well as from networking with fellow IGA Retailers.

“I believe that the sharing of best practices and exchange of information come to life at the Supermarket Operations Class,” said Paulo Goelzer, Ph.D., president of the IGA Coca-Cola Institute. “We create an environment in which participants and high-level faculty join together in conversation. That’s the kind of learning our retailers really need to improve operations and enjoy continued growth. Recent research provides evidence that retailers who are growing are those with skill and not scale.”

This year’s spring session of the Supermarket Operations Class was held April 17–22, at McDonald’s Hamburger University, a 130,000-square-foot, state-of-art training center in Oak Brook, Ill. In attendance were 37 IGA associates from the United States, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, the Caymen Islands, St. Lucia and Poland. IGA’s first Supermarket Operations Class was held in March 2004 in St. Louis, Mo. According to Goelzer, relocating the class this year to Chicago’ metropolitan area was advantageous to everyone involved.

“We were incredibly pleased with the McDonald’s facility,” Goelzer said. “Because our students were lodged on campus, the class became a total emersion. It was easy for our participants from all over the world to stay in a learning mindset and continue to network with each other even after the classes were over for the day. In addition, the location allowed for a trip to the IGA corporate office.

The Week at a Glance
The broad array of topics covered during the Supermarket Operations Class ensured that participants left armed with knowledge and resources to pass along to other associates once they returned home. The interactive course sessions taught by industry training experts included topics ranging from consumer behavior, health and sanitation, branding, positioning, advertising, marketing and retail culture, to courses on developing departments within the store such as bakery, deli, produce and floral. The course also focused on IGA-specific topics such as the store assessment program and the institute’s Web-based certification program. One of the most popular aspects of the class was the supermarket tour session that explored a variety of store formats in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Positioning and Strategy
In this constantly evolving marketplace, it is more important than ever for IGAers to find a way to position their stores to stay competitive and stand out from the crowd.
With this in mind, industry speaker Ryan Mathews began the store-positioning sessions by questioning the “myth of excellence” (Mathews has a book by that title) and proposing strategic alternatives. An overview of the major retailing concepts currently used to sell food was presented by Paul Adams, a popular grocery-industry speaker. To provide attendees with operational insights that they can apply to their stores, Adams followed up with a tour of several Chicago-area supermarkets.

Dr. Bob Kelley, president and principal consultant of Pure Culture Consulting, continued the theme of store positioning with a session on the leadership skills necessary to build and sustain high-performance retail cultures. The necessity of correctly identifying consumers’ needs was addressed by supermarket retail expert Willard Bishop of Willard Bishop Consulting. St. Joseph University marketing professors Richard George and John Stanton returned for the spring class with their popular session of effective events-advertising methods.

Maximizing Department Sales
It is certainly no secret that trends in the grocery departments change frequently. To stay ahead of the competition, IGA Retailers need to know not only how to maintain perimeter departments, but also how to revamp them to meet the evolving needs of consumers. With that in mind, the Supermarket Operations Class included sessions on each of the perimeter departments, including those that many retailers may not have previously considered essential to their stores’ success. One such session, led by Nick DeRose of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, focused on current sales trends within the cheese category. DeRose made recommendations for product mix and merchandising designed to maximize sales and profit potential for this frequently overlooked department. In the same vein, IGA Global Advisory Board member John Klein of Nestlé Purina Petcare Company, held a pet-category management session that included an IGA pet department before-and-after workshop, and TotalFloral President Chris Buss discussed ways to grow floral sales. More traditional perimeter departments also were addressed, including a session on bakery by 30-year training veterans Shirley Brown and Vernon Cornelius. There also were sessions on the meat and produce departments.

Tours of Stores
In addition to touring several Chicago-area formats like supercenters, organic markets, limited-assortment stores, club stores and food/drug combos, students of the Supermarket Operations Class visited Chicago’s premier specialty supermarket, Fox & Obel. President Keith Montague led the tour and gave a brief history of the origin of his unique store, which bills itself as the store that has it all, “from the everyday to the exotic, from ounces of herbs to gallons of extra-virgin olive oil and from a boxed lunch to a banquet for 50.” Afterwards, the class dined in the store’s event space on a meal prepared by Fox & Obel chefs.

Fall Class Scheduled
Although the spring Supermarket Operations Class is barely behind us, preparation is already well under way for the next informative six-day program. The fall Supermarket Operations class is scheduled for October 2–7 and will again be held on the campus of McDonald’s Hamburger University. For more information, visit www.igainstitute.com, or call Xenia Gavrilovic at (773) 695-2611.

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“I’ve been a floor manager for about three years now, and the course both renewed my enthusiasm and inspired me. Being able to go and see the other supermarkets to see what sort of things are going on outside of Barbados was especially helpful. I came back home with a set plan on improving things within our store. We will undoubtedly be sending more people from our organization in the future.”
Lee-Ann Mendes
Super Centre Sunset Crest
Barbados

“I recommend that any IGA store send their top people to the Supermarket Operations Class. In no other training environment can you find faculty so well versed on industry topics along with a group of peers ready and willing to share their own experiences.”
Jeremy Gragg
Uhl's IGA
Ohio

“Throughout the course of the six days I had the opportunity to speak with people in every aspect of the industry. Never have I had a better opportunity to benefit from the experience of my peers. This was the most intensive and well-developed training I’ve every had.”
Paige Wheeler
Assistant Manager
Cherry's IGA
Illinois

“The Supermarket Operations Class was one of the more beneficial training sessions I've ever experienced. I left the class with greater understanding of the issues my retailers face on a day-to-day basis. I would recommend this course to anyone working in the industry.”
David Karn
Retail Counselor
Great North Foods
Michigan

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.

For Information Contact
Ashley M. Page 773-772-5724