IGA Foodliner

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Brian Lutz
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IGA Foodliner

Post by Brian Lutz »

While doing some research in local history, I have come across advertisements for IGA Foodliner stores that were apparently located in a couple of different locations in Redmond:

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The first one was in the Redmond Shopping Square, and I believe this would have been in 1954 or so. I am not entirely certain how long the store was here before it moved, but I do know that another grocery store (Barry's Market) opened here in 1966. Since at least the mid Seventies this space has been home to B&B Auto Parts, and sometime within the next year or two this shopping center will be demolished to make way for a new road through here. I plan to discuss this center and its history in more detail on my Blog sometime in the near future.

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The second location is in the Redmond Center shopping center, and I am uncertain if it opened in 1966 or earlier at this time. Eventually a second phase with smaller shops was added to the left of what you see here, and another building that most recently hosted a physical therapist's office and previously a Payless Shoe Source, a Pizza Hut and a freestanding Starbucks were built in the parking lot next to the road, and a Ben Franklin (still open as a craft store.) was added as well in another freestanding building. The former Foodliner store is now a QFC (which expanded into a significant portion of the space to the left of it) and has been for as long as I have lived here. The east side of the center will be getting remodeled/reconstructed in the near future as well. Given the close proximity between these two centers, it is almost entirely certain that this was a move from one location to another.

Local history aside, the reason I'm putting this on the Miscellaneous board is that it appears that there have been (and in fact are still) a rather significant number of IGA Foodliner stores scattered across the country that I have seen. Aside from the obvious IGA affiliation, is there some affiliation behind the various Foodliner stores out there, or was it just a "generic" name for IGA stores that happened to be convenient so a large number of stores used it?
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dooneyt63
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Re: IGA Foodliner

Post by dooneyt63 »

Foodliner was a name used by the IGA organization with accompanying sign and ad packages. More recently they promoted IGA Plus. Many stores affiliated with IGA remain highly independent (no pun intended). Unlike some organizations, there is not much uniformity...particularly in smaller stores. Some IGA stores use all IGA store brand; others mix in Flavorite from Supervalu or other supplier labels. IGA has several authorized suppliers. Some use the IGA label on perishables, some not. Many don't choose to use the Table-Rite Beef label. Of course, this is pretty typical of many small town Piggly Wiggly, Big Star, Red & White, etc. stores; they often pick and choose what to use of the available options. There is a store in Florida that is no longer an IGA affiliate but still calls itself simply Foodliner.
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