Isn't IGA cool?
In my day, we did much of our grocery shopping at the now-defunct Highlander IGA in Fort Thomas. But this store went out of business in 2001. I don't know if there's a single IGA remaining in northern Kentucky. The supermarket up the street from me now used to be an IGA, but IGA said they couldn't be an IGA anymore. There just aren't nearly as many IGA's as there used to be.
I remember standing in the checkout aisle at the Highlander IGA and snickering at the packs of Bubblicious because this was when the Bubblicious logo looked like it was blowing a bubble (near the lower right corner of the logo):
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/77/d8/18/77d81876069e475d5024ce7d82435fc3--chewing-gum-logo-google.jpg
IGA has had more slogans over the years than just about any other company:
"We've got the goods."
"You're in, you're out, you're home."
"Hometown proud."
"You're what's special at IGA."
"I Get Attention."
I knew some kid who got caught stealing from an IGA. When the "I Get Attention" commercial came on, he said, "I got attention when I stole from IGA!"
Quote from: bandit957 on May 02, 2018, 09:08:43 AM
Isn't IGA cool?
In my day, we did much of our grocery shopping at the now-defunct Highlander IGA in Fort Thomas. But this store went out of business in 2001. I don't know if there's a single IGA remaining in northern Kentucky. The supermarket up the street from me now used to be an IGA, but IGA said they couldn't be an IGA anymore. There just aren't nearly as many IGA's as there used to be.
I remember standing in the checkout aisle at the Highlander IGA and snickering at the packs of Bubblicious because this was when the Bubblicious logo looked like it was blowing a bubble (near the lower right corner of the logo):
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/77/d8/18/77d81876069e475d5024ce7d82435fc3--chewing-gum-logo-google.jpg
IGA has had more slogans over the years than just about any other company:
"We've got the goods."
"You're in, you're out, you're home."
"Hometown proud."
"You're what's special at IGA."
"I Get Attention."
I knew some kid who got caught stealing from an IGA. When the "I Get Attention" commercial came on, he said, "I got attention when I stole from IGA!"
I thought the Independent Grocers Alliance was defunct?
Quote from: US71 on May 02, 2018, 09:32:41 AM
Quote from: bandit957 on May 02, 2018, 09:08:43 AM
Isn't IGA cool?
In my day, we did much of our grocery shopping at the now-defunct Highlander IGA in Fort Thomas. But this store went out of business in 2001. I don't know if there's a single IGA remaining in northern Kentucky. The supermarket up the street from me now used to be an IGA, but IGA said they couldn't be an IGA anymore. There just aren't nearly as many IGA's as there used to be.
I remember standing in the checkout aisle at the Highlander IGA and snickering at the packs of Bubblicious because this was when the Bubblicious logo looked like it was blowing a bubble (near the lower right corner of the logo):
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/77/d8/18/77d81876069e475d5024ce7d82435fc3--chewing-gum-logo-google.jpg
IGA has had more slogans over the years than just about any other company:
"We've got the goods."
"You're in, you're out, you're home."
"Hometown proud."
"You're what's special at IGA."
"I Get Attention."
I knew some kid who got caught stealing from an IGA. When the "I Get Attention" commercial came on, he said, "I got attention when I stole from IGA!"
I thought the Independent Grocers Alliance was defunct?
There was one in DC, of all places. I don't know if it's still in business, but it was as of 2010 or so. I wouldn't exactly say it was the jewel of the empire. Filthy and overpriced.
All the one's in my area dropped the franchise and changed to Marvin's or CV's. Recently, they changed again to Shoppers Value Cost Plus where they tack on ten percent to your final bill and charge 5 cents more per item than Walmart (on average)
I still know of at least two IGAs in northern Wisconsin (Washburn and Phillips).
When we used to stay at our uncle's house on Lake Winnisquam in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we would do our grocery shopping at the IGA in downtown Laconia. The building is still there, but it's now an independent supermarket called Vista.
I know there are still IGAs around somewhere because last year Ms1995hoo was giving me guff when we passed one and I said the name as a single word rather than as three letters. But I don't remember where it was.
The one that used to be in Charlottesville is now a Staples. I don't ever remember any of them being in Northern Virginia. I remember going to the one in Charlottesville once during college with two of my roommates. None of us had ever been in there before, yet one of the guys somehow managed to make a beeline directly to the beer (which is what we were there to buy) even though it was not visible from the entrance.
I can think of 4 different IGA's within 15 minutes of me. The latter two are in the same town, and are the only two supermarkets in that town. Geissler's is another popular chain of IGA's in Northern CT, and Adam's IGA took over many of the former Finast/Edwards stores that were divested when Ahold acquired Stop & Shop.
My wife worked at an IGA here in Mullica Hill, NJ a good 20 years ago or so, and long since out of business. She mostly hated her coworkers who all smoked in the break room. But she still remembers some of the 4 digit produce codes when we shop and use the self checkouts, which are universal and never change.
The store, very smallish for a supermarket, is now a well-liked Amish Market.
I liked the IGA in Wheelwright, KY, which I believe is no longer there. Dingy, but quite local.
There used to be an IGA in downtown Petersburg until quite recently, but I don’t know if it’s still open. I never, ever saw a car in the parking lot even when it clearly was.
Edit: the IGA website now says the closest one is in Urbanna.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 02, 2018, 10:18:47 AM
But she still remembers some of the 4 digit produce codes when we shop and use the self checkouts, which are universal and never change.
Remember 4011 or you'll go bananas.
Last time I shopped at one was in Fredericktown, Ohio in 2011, which had exactly no restaurants open for the two weeks I was in town.
(edit: town spelling)
IGA's are still fairly common in small-town and rural Kentucky. Beattyville and Jackson have them. So, too, does Happy, a small community on KY 15 south of Hazard.
Quote from: formulanone on May 02, 2018, 11:18:25 AM
Remember 4011 or you'll go bananas.
:-D :-D Good one!
IGAs are found in mostly rural parts in WV. Most tend to be nasty and overpriced as they are usually the only store in town and have a captive customer base.
There's a couple stores mainly on the north side and northern suburbs of Chicago that are affiliated with IGA. No straight up IGA logo store
Quote from: SP Cook on May 02, 2018, 12:42:48 PM
IGAs are found in mostly rural parts in WV. Most tend to be nasty and overpriced as they are usually the only store in town and have a captive customer base.
It looks like IGAs are found in mostly rural parts of most of the country.
The weird thing is, the IGA I'm thinking of in DC (now known as Metro K Supermarket) is a few blocks from a far superior Safeway, but thrives nonetheless.
I sometimes shopped at the one in Potsdam, NY, which actually tends to flip between IGA and Big M.
From what I've seen looking at photos posted in Google Maps, the one in Quebec are much nicer than the ones in the US. They look almost like mini-Wegmans up there!
I've seen a couple of nicer ones in the U.S., but I can't remember exactly where. Just thought, "Huh, that's nice for an IGA" as I passed them.
There are several 'Carlie C's IGA' stores around here. Back in Lenoir there was Fairvalue that sold IGA branded stuff, but they don't have IGA in the store name anywhere.
https://www.iga.com has a store locator.
I found a few around north TX, but rural and a bit past the suburbs. The only exception is Lake Worth, which is a Fort Worth suburb.
Growing up in my small hometown, I recall occasionally hearing radio ads for an IGA-affiliated store in some remote small town that I never really had reason to visit. But of the countless small towns that I did visit (or frequent), few if any had IGA-affiliated stores. My guess is that rural Pennsylvania had enough grocery chains specializing in small towns (Weis, Giant, Penn Traffic) that relatively few independent grocers survived into the supermarket era.
If the IGA network is shrinking, I would attribute it to a few circumstances:
- the dominance of major grocery chains in urban and suburban areas
- the decline in number and purchasing power of rural populations
- rural customers replacing regular, local grocery shopping trips with a single trip to their closest hypermarket (i.e. Walmart)
Quote from: vdeane on May 02, 2018, 01:26:17 PM
From what I've seen looking at photos posted in Google Maps, the one in Quebec are much nicer than the ones in the US. They look almost like mini-Wegmans up there!
According to the internet, which is always correct, the IGA name in Canada, and lots of other countries, was sold off to unrelated companies. The chains have no current relationship.
Found this nugget on YouTube, sponsored by IGA
IGA seems to be alive and well in/around Montréal.
There's an IGA downstairs from the hotel I usually stay at when I go into the office, in fact.
There are quite a few IGA's around Northern Ohio, mostly outside the large urban cities. There used to be 3 along US-42 that I remember when I was a kid that are gone now (Middleburg Hts., Medina & Lodi).
Quote from: thenetwork on May 02, 2018, 10:27:40 PM
There are quite a few IGA's around Northern Ohio, mostly outside the large urban cities. There used to be 3 along US-42 that I remember when I was a kid that are gone now (Middleburg Hts., Medina & Lodi).
Drove up US-68 from Springfield to Findlay a couple of weeks ago and went past two IGAs (West Liberty and Arlington). Both towns are at least 10-15 minutes away from the nearest Walmart or Kroger (Arlington is more remote than West Liberty).
There appear to still be quite a few around in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (where there are only six Walmarts [Escanaba, Houghton, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Marquette, and Sault Ste. Marie] and two Meijers [Escanaba and Sault Ste. Marie; a third Meijer is opening in Marquette soon] across the entire peninsula)
IGA in Ontario at least was connected to the original brand, until Oshawa Foods took over the brand in 1964.....which was eventually bought out by Sobeys in 1998. With a lot of rebrandings that occurred with their properties, (Food City stores became Price Chopper stores, or some Food City stores became IGA) after Sobeys bought them out, the smaller IGA stores remained as IGA, while the larger IGA stores which existed from Food City were rebranded under the Sobeys Banner.
The remaining IGA stores in Ontario, I can think of one in Brampton, these franchise owned stores were FORCED to convert to Foodland.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/IGA_in_Toronto-Dundas_Street_West%2C_looking_north_from_Glenlake_Avenue.jpg)
This is an IGA store in near The Junction neighborhood in Toronto in 1957 (There's a FreshCo across the street today, possibly this being an ancestor of that store) That old rail pedestrian bridge still exists today but the streetcar tracks have since been ripped up.
The IGA stores in Quebec are ran by Sobeys, in fact, the stores there may just be Sobeys stores in all but name if you get what I mean.
Quote from: US71 on May 02, 2018, 09:43:35 AM
All the one's in my area dropped the franchise and changed to Marvin's or CV's. Recently, they changed again to Shoppers Value Cost Plus where they tack on ten percent to your final bill and charge 5 cents more per item than Walmart.
The one on 271? I don't see how following a model that CVS had for so long is doing them any good with the baggers. They need to get with the times or GTFO!
These towns in Michigan have IGA stores still:
Au Gres, Ossineke, Alpena, Rogers City, Hillman, Harbor Springs. Those are all in the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula has at least 10 of them. The U.P. also only has about 300,000 people and only the bigger towns have a Walmart and Meijer is starting to opening stores in the U.P. now too.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on May 05, 2018, 10:27:34 PM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/IGA_in_Toronto-Dundas_Street_West%2C_looking_north_from_Glenlake_Avenue.jpg)
This is an IGA store in near The Junction neighborhood in Toronto in 1957 (There's a FreshCo across the street today, possibly this being an ancestor of that store) That old rail pedestrian bridge still exists today but the streetcar tracks have since been ripped up.
That footbridge is awesome! There are a couple of similar footbridges over railroad tracks (and the Mouse/Souris River) in Minot, North Dakota. These tiny trusses must have been built by the railroad companies. Here are some links with pictures of these bridges.
http://bridgehunter.com/nd/ward/bh43077/
http://bridgehunter.com/nd/ward/anne-pedestrian/
Quote from: bugo on May 06, 2018, 12:47:31 AM
Quote from: MisterSG1 on May 05, 2018, 10:27:34 PM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/IGA_in_Toronto-Dundas_Street_West%2C_looking_north_from_Glenlake_Avenue.jpg)
This is an IGA store in near The Junction neighborhood in Toronto in 1957 (There's a FreshCo across the street today, possibly this being an ancestor of that store) That old rail pedestrian bridge still exists today but the streetcar tracks have since been ripped up.
That footbridge is awesome! There are a couple of similar footbridges over railroad tracks (and the Mouse/Souris River) in Minot, North Dakota. These tiny trusses must have been built by the railroad companies. Here are some links with pictures of these bridges.
http://bridgehunter.com/nd/ward/bh43077/
http://bridgehunter.com/nd/ward/anne-pedestrian/
GSV has that bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.660515,-79.4533771,3a,60y,269.96h,90.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4FtwWrAkLRf6H73BKcf5A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Those "cost plus" stores can fuck off. There's one near where I live, and I don't shop there very often because I hate doing the math in my head for the 10% markup and the 10% or so that taxes add to the price. I hate doing math in my head, and I'd rather just shop at Walmart.
Quote from: Flint1979 on May 06, 2018, 12:50:23 AM
GSV has that bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.660515,-79.4533771,3a,60y,269.96h,90.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4FtwWrAkLRf6H73BKcf5A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
That is a pony truss, but the two bridges in Minot are through truss bridges. The top of the trusses might be 10 feet above the floor of the bridge, if they are even that tall.
Here is a picture of me standing on the Anne Street Pedestrian Bridge:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/825/27051017527_e2a71aaaf9_o.jpg)
Quote from: bugo on May 06, 2018, 12:51:09 AM
Those "cost plus" stores can fuck off. There's one near where I live, and I don't shop there very often because I hate doing the math in my head for the 10% markup and the 10% or so that taxes add to the price. I hate doing math in my head, and I'd rather just shop at Walmart.
We have two different stores here now. Shopper's Value "moved" into all the CV's (IGA) locations, 10Box Cost Plus "moved" into a Harp's.
Based on my observations (and a friend I compared notes with), after you add the 10 percent "markup", you are paying the same as Wal-Mart + / - 5 cents.
Harp's, BTW, is based in Springdale, AR and was once "Harp's IGA", but dropped the association in the 1970's.
Quote from: bugo on May 06, 2018, 12:56:38 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on May 06, 2018, 12:50:23 AM
GSV has that bridge.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.660515,-79.4533771,3a,60y,269.96h,90.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw4FtwWrAkLRf6H73BKcf5A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
That is a pony truss, but the two bridges in Minot are through truss bridges. The top of the trusses might be 10 feet above the floor of the bridge, if they are even that tall.
Here is a picture of me standing on the Anne Street Pedestrian Bridge:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/825/27051017527_e2a71aaaf9_o.jpg)
Those bridges look kind of cool.
They use to have IGA's in Saginaw. They opened after Hamady Brothers went out of business and before that Hamady Brothers bought out a chain called Vescio's. There was an IGA on W. Michigan and Superior it's now a church, there was one in Riverview Plaza closer to downtown Saginaw it's now another grocery store called Food Depot. They also had an IGA on Dixie Hwy. in the Bridgeport Village Square, that store is now a Kroger. Hamady had two other locations in Saginaw one on Bay Road it's now Powerhouse Gym and one on Gratiot and Center which was demolished and rebuilt as a Hills Department store and then later became a Kmart, Kessel's (now Kroger) built a newer store in 1990 on the other end of the plaza, Kroger closed this store in November 2017 after expanding the store at Green Acres Plaza. The last two Hamady's I mentioned did not become IGA's.
I also remember an IGA in Caseville as a kid about 30 years ago but seem to believe that is no longer an IGA.
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on May 05, 2018, 10:35:38 PM
Quote from: US71 on May 02, 2018, 09:43:35 AM
All the one's in my area dropped the franchise and changed to Marvin's or CV's. Recently, they changed again to Shoppers Value Cost Plus where they tack on ten percent to your final bill and charge 5 cents more per item than Walmart.
The one on 271? I don't see how following a model that CVS had for so long is doing them any good with the baggers. They need to get with the times or GTFO!
ALL the CV's have changed to Shoppers Value including Jenny Lind Rd and the one in Van Buren.
Quote from: US71 on May 06, 2018, 01:52:54 PM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on May 05, 2018, 10:35:38 PM
Quote from: US71 on May 02, 2018, 09:43:35 AM
All the one's in my area dropped the franchise and changed to Marvin's or CV's. Recently, they changed again to Shoppers Value Cost Plus where they tack on ten percent to your final bill and charge 5 cents more per item than Walmart.
The one on 271? I don't see how following a model that CVS had for so long is doing them any good with the baggers. They need to get with the times or GTFO!
ALL the CV's have changed to Shoppers Value including Jenny Lind Rd and the one in Van Buren.
I wonder if Greenwood's CV's met the same fate? Likely, but I haven't paid attention while I've been down there recently.
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on May 06, 2018, 06:56:43 PM
Quote from: US71 on May 06, 2018, 01:52:54 PM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on May 05, 2018, 10:35:38 PM
Quote from: US71 on May 02, 2018, 09:43:35 AM
All the one's in my area dropped the franchise and changed to Marvin's or CV's. Recently, they changed again to Shoppers Value Cost Plus where they tack on ten percent to your final bill and charge 5 cents more per item than Walmart.
The one on 271? I don't see how following a model that CVS had for so long is doing them any good with the baggers. They need to get with the times or GTFO!
ALL the CV's have changed to Shoppers Value including Jenny Lind Rd and the one in Van Buren.
I wonder if Greenwood's CV's met the same fate? Likely, but I haven't paid attention while I've been down there recently.
I don't see anything on the web about changing.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on May 05, 2018, 10:27:34 PM
The IGA stores in Quebec are ran by Sobeys, in fact, the stores there may just be Sobeys stores in all but name if you get what I mean.
The IGAs in New Brunswick are also supplied by Sobeys Quebec (and are former Co-op stores (except for the one in Edmundston, which has been an IGA for many years); after the regional supplier for co-ops in Atlantic Canada and the Magdalen Islands went under, most Co-op stores (except for 2 in Newfoundland, which are supplied through local chain Colemans) hooked up with Sobeys. The Acadian co-ops are with Sobeys Quebec (stores in Caraquet, Bouctouche, Dieppe, Shediac and Tracadie are Co-op IGAs (Caraquet uses the Quebec-style "coop" sign, with the others using the old Co-op Atlantic logo), with smaller Acadian co-ops rebranding to Tradition, expanding that brand to New Brunswick. Stores elsewhere go under either Co-op or Foodland, but use the same flyer. There's one exception to that rule, though...the Co-op in St-Quentin, NB is supplied by Loblaws Quebec and operates as a L'Intermarche.
Quote from: Flint1979 on May 06, 2018, 01:10:29 PM
Those bridges look kind of cool.
They're damn cool. Here's another cool bridge in Minot:
http://bridgehunter.com/nd/ward/eastwood-park/
Here is the essay I wrote about it:
The Eastwood Park Bridge was built in 1927 and spans the Mouse (Souris) River in Minot, North Dakota. At first glance, the bridge appears to be a rainbow arch bridge. Upon closer inspection, it is actually an open spandrel deck arch bridge with a cantilevered main (center) span and an ornamental pony arch balustrade. The pony arch span rests upon the deck of the bridge, which rests upon the cantilevered arms on the underside of the bridge. This design was necessitated by a requirement by Ward County for the span to be an arch bridge. The county feared violating the patent for the Marsh arch bridge, so T.W. Sprague was hired to create an alternative design with the look of the fashionable Marsh arch bridge but the function of a deck arch bridge. The result is the only "false arch" bridge in the state of North Dakota. An attempt was made to raze the bridge in the mid-1970s but outrage by locals led to a restoration and listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This is a highly unusual bridge with a fascinating history.
I think there used to be a IGA somewhere in Wayne County where I used to live.
WTF's IGA? Please spell out acronyms the first time you use them.
IGA = Independent Grocers Alliance
Quote from: Big John on May 14, 2018, 04:47:06 PM
IGA = Independent Grocers Alliance
Thank you. That at least gives something I can google.
Quote from: Big John on May 14, 2018, 04:47:06 PM
IGA = Independent Grocers Alliance
Actually, the brand name is now "IGA", in much the same way as how there is no such place as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (just "KFC" since 1991).
Quote from: kkt on May 14, 2018, 04:38:41 PM
WTF's IGA? Please spell out acronyms the first time you use them.
Yeah, this. I figured it must be something good (!!!!!) but had absolutely no idea what it stood for.
That's when you go to a search engine and look for "What does IGA stand for" or something similar.
Quote from: 1995hoo on May 14, 2018, 07:59:20 PM
That's when you go to a search engine and look for "What does IGA stand for" or something similar.
I don't have good luck when searching acronyms. Usually (not always), there's hundreds of different results between various industry-specific lingo, and text-speak and such.
Obviously, it's a Tim thread, so anything goes. But I, for one, go for clarity in both my thread titles and original posts. In this case, the nondescript title deterred me from even opening the thread. I wouldn't want that to happen to discussions I've initiated.
Why did they gate that beautiful bridge
Quote from: 1995hoo on May 14, 2018, 07:59:20 PM
That's when you go to a search engine and look for "What does IGA stand for" or something similar.
Independent Grocers Alliance
Quote from: 1995hoo on May 14, 2018, 07:59:20 PM
That's when you go to a search engine and look for "What does IGA stand for" or something similar.
I was about to say that the business is much better known as IGA rather than what it actually stands for. I would bet the majority of customers would get the actual name incorrect or not know it is an abbreviation at all.
To be honest I don't think of IGA as particularly cool. I mostly just think of it as a small town grocer or, if anything, expensive and with a poor selection based on my shopping experiences there.
Growing up in Bloomington, Indiana I believe there were two in town: Cascades IGA on the North Side and Highland Village IGA on the West Side. Our family rarely had occasion to stop at the former and AFAIK never at the latter. Both are long gone now. The Cascades IGA became a Save-a-Lot which has since closed and I'm not even sure exactly where the Highland Village IGA was or what might have become of the building.
Now about the only time I find myself in an IGA is when I visit my in-laws in Huntingburg, Indiana at a location that's a former Buehler's Buy Low (and still referred to as Buehler's by many locals). Even then it seems like most people do the bulk of their shopping at the Walmart in Jasper while the IGA is relegated to quick trips to pick up a couple things. It was a similar story when I lived in Oberlin, Ohio. People might pick up a few things at the local IGA because it was convenient, but it seemed like most did the bulk of their shopping at the Walmart on the edge of town (or went to the Cleveland suburbs to shop).
In my hometown of Fremont, NC the local store, Joyner's, used to be part of IGA. When it became IGA, I don't know, but it was one when we first moved there in July 1995 when I was 6. The store and IGA parted ways in the early 2000's and Joyner's became part of Galaxy, which didn't last very long before becoming part of Great Valu. Now, Joyner's isn't associated with anybody, despite what Google Maps says.
The owner, John Joyner, had a brother (Cliff) that ran a second store in Nashville but Cliff closed that store over 10 years ago. Joyner's is as you'd expect: dirty, run-down and overpriced with not much selection with half the products past the expiration date. Whether it was IGA, Galaxy, Great Valu or bumfuck, it was the same inside out.
John is a real cheapskate. He's the real-life version of Mr. Krabs.
Quote from: HazMatt on May 02, 2018, 02:59:01 PM
There are several 'Carlie C's IGA' stores around here. Back in Lenoir there was Fairvalue that sold IGA branded stuff, but they don't have IGA in the store name anywhere.
Carlie C's is pretty decent. I used to go to the one in Goldsboro often when I lived there. It moved into former Winn-Dixie building on Wayne Memorial Drive.