Australia’s Nick Chapley and James Kelly were among the 2017 IGA International Retailers of the Year celebrated during the IGA Awards of Excellence Brunch held in Las Vegas last weekend.
The IGA 2017 International Retailer of the Year Awards honoured the IGA retailers who, based on IGA’s globally applied standards, have achieved exemplary excellence in retailing and advancement of the IGA brand.
“The commitment these IGA International Retailers of the Year have made to their customers, their community, their associates and the IGA Alliance is an inspiration to us all,” IGA CEO Mark Batenic said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better group of retailers to lead the way in the coming year as IGA works to advance both our shopper experience and our brand as a whole.
Mr Chapley’s store (Frewville Foodland IGA, Adelaide) and Mr Kelly’s store (Taylor Rd IGA, Nedlands, Perth) were jointly named Australia’s National Retailer of the Year at the 2016 IGA Awards of Excellence before being recognised at the international awards.
Frewville Foodland IGA is described as Australia’s first certified organic supermarket, with one of the largest ranges of fresh produce in South Australia. The 3,100sqm store also includes prepared foods, a meat servery, bakery, cheese bar and readily available fresh seafood, a health-and-wellness section, and Mr Nick’s Kitchen & Coffee Bar. The store was also recognised as an International Retailer of the Year in 2016.
The 1,400sqm Taylor Rd IGA is known for innovative offerings and service. It provides freshly prepared specialty sausages, house-made tortillas and ‘duffins’ (a doughnut/muffin hybrid) and also delivers ready-to-eat meals created by in-house ‘gourmet’ chefs.
Two other retailers were named 2017 International Retailer of the Year: Kurt Rodhe of Rodhe’s IGA Marketplace, Ohio, US, and Weilong Li of the Xinglong Happy Family Business Group, Liaoning, China.
Rodhe’s IGA is one of the longest standing IGA stores in the world, having served the community for 83 years. Mr Rodhe recently introduced a focus on health, expanding the store’s wellness product offering and marketing with the help of a full-time certified natural health professional.
Mr Li has been in business in China’s northeast region for 24 years, and in that time has grown his operation to include 35 IGA hypermarkets and 50,000 employees. He credits IGA Coca-Cola Institute training with rapidly improving his store’s customer service, and putting him well on his way to his ultimate goal: becoming China’s business version of Disney.