In It for the Long Haul: A Sweepstakes, a Road Trip, and a Century of Thank-Yous

On July 15, we're kicking off something built to do two things at once: give your shoppers a reason to celebrate, and give independent grocers everywhere the spotlight they've earned.

It's called the In It for the Long Haul Sweepstakes — and yes, the name is doing double duty. It's a nod to 100 years of IGA and a literal road trip. Keep reading for details and how your shoppers can participate.

What's Launching July 15

Starting next week, shoppers at participating IGA stores can enter for a chance to win:

• $100 a day instant-win cash prizes, all summer long.
• A grand prize of $5,000 to put toward groceries — enough to last a family months.

The sweepstakes runs through September 8, 2026, made possible by a lineup of national sponsors: Coca-Cola, Gold Peak, vitaminwater, Powerade, smartwater, the Pork Board, Kleenex, Huggies, Ziploc, Glade, Off!, Aussie Beef, Kingsford, and Hidden Valley Ranch.

But the sweepstakes isn't really the point. It's the invitation.

Why We're Doing This

A hundred years in, IGA is still standing for the same thing it always has: grocers who show up for their neighborhoods, not shareholders. That's not nostalgia — it's a business model that's outlasted plenty of competitors who bet against it.

This sweepstakes is our way of saying thank you to the shoppers who have kept that model alive, one visit at a time. And it's your way of saying it, too.

The entry happens digitally, on the shopper's own phone, no purchase necessary, so your role isn't running the sweepstakes, but rather making sure your shoppers know it exists. A sign by the check stand, a quick mention while ringing someone up: "Have you entered our $100-a-day giveaway yet?" That's what turns a quiet transaction into a conversation.

And once you have their attention, use it. Tell them what their loyalty actually means to a store like yours. Tell them where that money they spend actually goes: back into local jobs, local shelves, local decisions. That's the story a national chain can't tell, because it isn't true for them the way it's true for you.

The Long Haul Store Tours: Starting in August

This August, we're hitting the road. A film crew will visit five hand-picked IGA stores across the country, capturing what makes independent grocery different: the people, the counters, the towns that depend on them. These stores weren't chosen because they're the biggest or the newest. They were chosen because their stories represent something bigger than any one location: what it looks like when a community and its grocer show up for each other, year after year.

The resulting docu-series will roll out in late August, illustrating to the nation what your regulars already know about you: that independent doesn't mean smaller or lesser, it means accountable. It means someone who lives in your town making the decisions, not a corporate office a thousand miles away.

A quick but important note on framing: this centennial belongs to IGA as a whole, not to any single store. If your store is newer, or operates under a family banner rather than the IGA name, that's not a footnote — it's exactly the point. Whatever name is on your sign, you're proudly part of a network that's supported independent grocers for 100 years. That's the line to lean on, rather than suggesting your individual store has been around a century (unless it has).

What You Can Do Right Now

You don't need to be one of the five featured stores to be part of this. Every IGA retailer has a role to play in telling this story locally:

• Thank your shoppers. Use the sweepstakes as the opening line for a bigger conversation about what keeps your doors open.
• Say the quiet part out loud. Customers don't always think about where their grocery dollars go. Tell them.
• Show up in the feed. Tag posts with #IGA100, #InItForTheLongHaul, and #America250. This year, the two milestones are telling one story together.

Resources to Help You Tell It

We've put together a kit so you're not starting from scratch (coming soon):

• A full suite of downloadable digital assets: social graphics and web banners, all with the complete sponsor lockup pre-applied and ready to customize with your store name.
• In-store signage, available two ways: download and print yourself, or order for direct delivery to your store.

Both are built to help you promote the sweepstakes and tell your own version of the long-haul story, because the next hundred years start with the same thing the first hundred did: a grocer who shows up.