Houchens Converting Stores to IGA Banner

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Houchens Industries here told SN yesterday it is in the process of converting all of its conventional Houchens stores to the Everyday IGA brand — a process Jimmie Gipson, chairman and chief executive officer, said would probably take three years.

According to Gipson, the combination of the IGA name, its strong private-label program and the growth of the banner across the U.S. have the potential to make IGA as powerful a competitor as Kroger is today.

Houchens, which operated approximately 85 stores under the Houchens name, has already converted approximately 35 of the corporate-owned units in Kentucky and Tennessee to licensed IGA locations, Gipson said. The company plans to retain the Food Giant name on the 100 conventional stores that carry that banner, he added.

Read More of Today's Headlines