THORP, Wis. -- Thorp IGA here and Russ's IGA Market No. 16 are among the winners in an "Explore the Store with IGA" contest.
Other winners are Hartville IGA SuperCenter in Hartville, Ohio; Fair Avenue IGA in Hamilton, Ohio; and Evergreen IGA in Billings, Mont. The Chicago-based Independent Grocers Alliance held the contest to help its members set themselves apart from the competition.
The purpose of the promotion was to get customers to "explore" and shop the entire store. As reported, the promotion was held from April 20 through May 17, a normally slow shopping period. The five winners were selected from more than 2,200 IGA retailers nationwide.
"Many retailers were amazed with the increase in grocery volume that they witnessed," Kim G. Barden, director of communications at IGA, told SN. Based on its success, Explore the Store will become an annual IGA promotion.
The campaign included 33 national brands, along with IGA's private label.
"We saw a significant increase in our sales from last year at this time," said Scott Barth, assistant manager at Thorp IGA.
Russ's IGA Market No. 16, Lincoln, Neb., used a jungle theme to entice shoppers to explore the store.
