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When Horace Greeley said, "Go west, young man he probably thought the pioneers taking his advice would stop at the West Coast. But IGA didn't stop its westward expansion in California. IGA now has a strong presence in Asia and is the United States' only multinational supermarketer.
A few years ago IGA. stood for Independent Grocers Alliance. Now the "I" stands for International. And IGA's international growth justifies the name change. The first American grocer to enter the Chinese marketplace, IGA actually began its expansion in Japan and has moved into Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia,. Korea, India, Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
IGA now has a global alliance of 3,600 supermarkets, with more than 550 stores in Asia. Chairman Tom Haggai attributes IGA's overseas success to the company's flexible structure. "IGA's international movement easily adjusts to the needs and structure of the local marketplace," he says. "When we enter a new market, we do not force a foreign methodology on a country or its culture. We bring education and training to improve the systems already in place."
IGA's training concept is one of the most important components of its overseas expansion. In 1992, IGA, with the strong support of the Coca-Cola Co., launched IGAU (IGA University), a retail training affiliate. The institute trains...