Quote:
Originally Posted by directfiesta
Canadian company .....
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IGA is a U.S. brand of grocery stores that operates in more than 30 countries. Unlike the chain store business model, IGA operates as a franchise through stores that are owned separately from the brand. Many of these stores operate in small town markets and belong to families that manage them. It was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance. The headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. IPA is also owned by IGA in Ontario, Canada
In Canada (apart from British Columbia), IGA is a group of independent grocers
supplied by Sobeys, which franchises the name. Acquired by Sobeys as part of its purchase of the Oshawa Group Ltd., it now operates primarily in Quebec. The IGA operations in Atlantic Canada were sold to Loblaw Companies Limited (except for Edmundston, New Brunswick) and were restructured under its existing brands. The company-owned stores west of Quebec now mainly operate under the Sobeys banner. In Ontario, Sobeys forced franchise-owned IGA stores to convert to the Foodland banner, and announced the closure of the IGA program in Ontario. There are, however, many IGA stores still operating in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, with one opening in Emerald Park, Saskatchewan in 2016.[3][4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGA_(supermarkets)
I really don't want to have to get into how IGA works as a business / association so hopefully you understand all that.. To put it simply, it's a buying/supplying/pooling brand/association...