Gary & Leo's awarded Five Star honor

Press release

CHICAGO - The Independent Grocers Alliance - IGA - announced Monday that Havre, Montana-based Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods IGA store has been awarded the IGA Five Star honor for achievement in IGA's Assessment Program.

Five Star is the highest level of recognition possible under the Assessment Program's rigorous standards.

The IGA Assessment Program measures IGA store performance with a combination of unrevealed and revealed assessments focused on operations, merchandising, innovation and customer service.

"IGA retailers and their teams are passionate about serving the needs of the local families who make up the urban, suburban, and rural communities of our nation, and that was exemplified last year," IGA CEO John Ross said. "In 2022, our retailers continued to face challenges like supply chain issues and labor shortages while inflation hit new highs. That's why Gary & Leo's Five Star status this year is even more impressive. We look forward to seeing how these stores excel as the Independent Grocers Alliance enters a new era."

"We're proud of Gary & Leo's IGA and its legacy of local ownership and community commitment, and for all Gary & Leo's has done over the past year to serve the community with a personalized, local shopping experience and the best level of service the grocery industry has to offer," Ross added. "From the entire IGA corporate team, we congratulate Gary & Leo's on their achievement, and thank all the shoppers who inspired the Gary & Leo's team to be the best."

"We at Gary & Leo's IGA are so proud to be Havre's Five Star IGA," manager Joe Malisani said. "We achieved this honor by working as a team to meet the needs of our customers and adapting to the current challenges of the industry. I'd like to thank my dedicated team for their hard work day in and day out, and thank our customers for sticking by us throughout the ups and downs of the past year."

The Independent Grocers Alliance, or IGA, was founded in 1926, bringing together independent grocers across the United States to ensure that the trusted, family-owned local grocery store remained strong in the face of growing chain competition. IGA is the world's largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of over $40 billion per year. The Alliance includes more than 6,200 Hometown Proud Supermarkets. IGA has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories.