What’s The Deal with IGA?

AustriaBargain on 18/04/2019 - 19:46

So I understand what IGA is based on the Wikipedia article, it’s a supply line for food and partnership with IGA, like a franchise except the store owners own the store and can sell whatever they want.

But what’s the “deal” with IGA, what’s the source of the vibe they all give off, and what kind of customer is reading their catalogues every week to save two dollars on frozen prawns or whatever. And why are so many of them so dirty, like under shelves hasn’t even mopped in years, kind of little organisational problems like that you don’t see at Coles or Woolworths anymore.

Food & Grocery

Related Stores

IGA
IGA

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 18/04/2019 - 19:53
    +17

    I think they are just a collective for purchasing power and distribution to compete with the big guys. There are some good ones, but also most of the worst ones.

      • Mistymoo on 18/04/2019 - 21:20
        +50

        What is with the weird poem style writing, dude?

        • [Deactivated] on 18/04/2019 - 21:52
          +115

          I think he has one of those foldable phones. Half the screen is dead.

        • Gina Rinehart on 19/04/2019 - 13:21
          +25

          He does it on every thread nearly.. I guess it's his "thing" which is really just annoying..

          Kind of like how some other users have a thing

          • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 17:10

            @Gina Rinehart: What's your 'thing' bro?

            • berger on 19/04/2019 - 22:05

              @[Deactivated]: Some-people-don’t-use-Spacebar AnD SoMe tYpE LiKe ThIs

              Kinda lame but whatever floats their boat.

              If you look at his older threads, there used to be more text per line.

          • Zachary on 23/04/2019 - 16:32
            +1

            @Gina Rinehart:

            Kind of like how some other users have a thing

            Yeah like how my thing is to use lots of dots like this……as a random, awkward, shot, long or and lead(where it's suppose to lead into something or hint the other party into finishing off my sentence(s)….) pauses……. I am not the only one who does this, by the way, too……and I picked this up a few years ago too, like IVI pick his a few years ago too…..

            What's your 'thing' bro?

            I m also curious as to what your thing is………………….

        • Zachary on 23/04/2019 - 16:35

          How did you even understand that? I didn't even know it was a poem….

  • [Deactivated] on 18/04/2019 - 19:59
    +42

    My local one kids like to climb the roof and spray an N in front of IGA. (photo below)

    what kind of customer is reading their catalogues every week to save two dollars on frozen prawns or whatever

    plenty of people read the coles and woolies catalogues too.

    https://external-preview.redd.it/9l5c0yGHnMBc6MMVOdjNNS2CRsn…

    • theHMASfriendship on 18/04/2019 - 20:03
      +18

      Are they your kids?

      • [Deactivated] on 18/04/2019 - 22:44
        +1

        no

      • AdosHouse on 18/04/2019 - 21:36

        Not sure if you're being serious or….

        • Seedy seed on 18/04/2019 - 21:38
          -1

          We will never know.

      • Diji1 on 19/04/2019 - 00:19
        +7

        Yeah it must be hilarious for black people to see the racial insult that people hurl at them on a store.

          • mooney on 20/04/2019 - 15:03

            @AlexF: @AlexF. You totally understand how racism works. Don't let anyone tell you you're an idiot even if what you say really makes you look dumb as shit.

        • Seedy seed on 19/04/2019 - 08:02
          +4

          Lets not be precious here, its gone the way of wog really. People dont use it as the insult it once was, atleast not in australia..

          At the end of the day its just a stupid word derived from the latin nigreos meaning black.

          If i ever heard it used as a real insult id burr up but not once has it happened, and on the occasion it does it will be in how they say it not the word itself that offence is caused. They could call you a bannana skin pie and make it offensive if they want.

          • Ozpit on 19/04/2019 - 09:30

            @Seedy seed: Nah, only if they said banana with two ns.

          • ozbjunkie on 19/04/2019 - 09:47
            +7

            @Seedy seed: Wog checking in. All my family under 50 will happily refer to themselves as wogs without a thought of the history.

            On topic - at least the kids are being more creative than simply tagging walls. It's bad and all, but they could be doing worse things.

            • ItsMeAgro on 20/04/2019 - 17:05

              @ozbjunkie:

              Wog checking in. All my family under 50 will happily refer to themselves as wogs without a thought of the history

              This is a good thing - they can comfortably use the term because they aren't suffering a lot of systemic racism anymore. We're not quite there yet with black and brown people, but I hope all racist slurs lose their teeth one day. We'll just need to keep making the effort to treat everyone the same for that to happen.

              • ozbjunkie on 20/04/2019 - 17:55
                +1

                @ItsMeAgro: There's still plenty of anti wog racism, many white women won't date wogs (but then again, there is a certain "woggy" trademark way of acting and speaking which women may find disagreeable) and serious ethnics they usually date and marry within their own cultural group (I look and speak like a white person because I'm only part wog - the shame).

                But yes I agree that globally and nationally being of Mediterranean origin confers less prejudice and profiling than individuals of stab, Persian, or African descent.

                I too hope we get along better in the future. To that end, I disagree with the actions of these kids. But on the other hand, it's still kinda funny.

            • Plug on 20/04/2019 - 19:50

              @ozbjunkie: Does that make you Italian or Greek? No one I've ever asked seems really to know. In the UK it's an offensive term for black people so it's strange to hear it bandied around in general conversation here.

              • ozbjunkie on 23/04/2019 - 10:25

                @Plug: One side Greek, the other Italian, so… Both?

        • singingwolf on 19/04/2019 - 11:09
          +13

          it's clearly not written as an insult. However the cost for that small business owner to fix the sign would not be small. It's a laugh at someone's expense either way.

        • dasher86 on 19/04/2019 - 19:27
          +4

          They are offended by the National Indian Gaming Associaton?

      • defecat0r on 20/04/2019 - 20:21

        Anybody that looks at that sign and sees a racial slur aimed at offending any racial demographic is either old and ignorant, or just precious.
        It's pretty funny, and not racist.

    • jelko on 19/04/2019 - 14:27
      +3

      This is hilarious.

    • mousie on 19/04/2019 - 19:21

      Is that you Kanye West?

    • Zachary on 23/04/2019 - 16:37

      …nice….

  • Clear on 18/04/2019 - 20:03
    +14

    Basically what Frugal said. Together they have the purchasing power and distribution that allows them to be more competitive. In my experience they're also more supportive of local brands rather than Woolies/Coles/ALDI who copy and push their own brand.

    As for the stores they're all mostly independent. Some stores may be owned by a group while many are individually owned. Either way there are a lot of good and a lot of bad.

    • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 17:12

      Do you know what you just did?
      You criticised Aldi!

      • Clear on 19/04/2019 - 17:17
        +6

        And I'm going to do it again. If an Australian brand is popular at Aldi they will copy it with a similar name, have it made overseas and sell it for lower with better store coverage.

        That's how Aldi screw over local brands much like Woolies and Coles. Though in my experience they're worse!

        • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 17:20

          Actually their irregular stuff is starting to get pretty expensive.

          I always thought they were pretty good at partnering with Aussie businesses though. The big guys tended to be pretty hardcore with their suppliers.

          • Clear on 19/04/2019 - 18:10
            +2

            @[Deactivated]: Extended family has a few brands 😉 Aldi are the worst and IGA are the best.

        • smartazz104 on 20/04/2019 - 13:55
          +1

          Overseas? I though the copied items with similar sounding names were just the same products being sold at Colesworths with different labels, kind of like the Colesworths “premiums home brands.

      • tasty-falafel on 03/05/2019 - 12:31

        Aldi is trash. Long waiting times with no self checkouts. Lacking fruit & veg range which is usually half stocked. I could go on…

    • mrvaluepack on 19/04/2019 - 20:52

      Are you sure about supporting local brands? What about their Black & Gold brand? Thats the equivalent of coles/woolies homebrand.

      • Clear on 19/04/2019 - 20:56

        In my family's case they make the Black & Gold brand as well :P What normally happens is that IGA will put the local ahead of their own label.

  • Davo1111 on 18/04/2019 - 20:17
    • combined purchasing power
    • not woolworths/coles
    • generally have longer opening hours
  • Associatedlychees @ IGA on 18/04/2019 - 20:19
    +8

    As others have said IGA are not a single entity like Woolworths or Coles. Their model goes Metcash (Wholesaler > Retailer > Store. Metcash supports the independent with best practice guidelines but ultimately they are run by individuals, meaning there is no consistency. This can either be good or bad, IGA's namely have a bad name because of this. In some rural towns an IGA might be run by a local family and it can have a very strong offering, where they do not have a coles or woolworths to compete with and as such are able to spend more money re-investing in their store or good customer service.

    • tanksinatra on 18/04/2019 - 20:43
      +3

      Indeed. Conversely, in metropolitan areas many IGA's tend to be more like a large convenience store. I shop at them from time to time as they have an interesting variety of local products and serve different tastes. But they can be a bit hit-and-miss and the usual brand name products tend to be expensive.

    • AustriaBargain on 18/04/2019 - 21:04

      Who are all the people you see walking around igas with visitor badges, asking if I know where the mint oil is, or just generally looking like they don’t know the store despite wearing vaguely IGA ish clothes. Quality control reps?

      • Associatedlychees @ IGA on 18/04/2019 - 21:13
        +5

        If they are wearing visitor labels they are likely reps hired by product companies I.e. Coca cola, Unilever etc

    • mezje on 20/04/2019 - 22:12
      +1

      Foodworks is the same

    • Question on 27/04/2019 - 11:23

      I used to shop at a large IGA that seemed to be under some brand called "Romeo's". Even had a points card. Place was very nicely arranged, specials were absolutely amazing and it was nice and quiet unlike the coles/woolies that were in the same westfield.

      Sadly they closed down at some point. The other IGAs that I have seen were small neighbourhood places, that were really badly managed with terrible prices. Meat is close to 50% more expensive than the ones at Coles, but does not taste better. Quite small and cramped, gives off a "dirty convenience store" vibe, etc…basically no reason whatsoever to shop at them unless you didn't know better.

      Tried asking one place to order in some IGA brand items. Several months later, they never got any in stock and the manager just kept blamming IGA for not sending them his way, and when I contacted IGA themselves to try and find out why they weren't sending it to them, they sent me a copy pasted response saying that it is up to the store what to order (completely ignoring that I had mentioned that the store had ALREADY ordered the items) and then refused to reply to any more of my emails.

      Huge turnoff.

      • Associatedlychees @ IGA on 30/04/2019 - 15:36

        If it gives you any closure at all, IGA branded items were discontinued by IGA some years ago and would not have been able to be ordered by the store. Not sure why they sent you a generic response like that.

        • Question on 02/05/2019 - 14:23

          Seems weird to discontinue them…the IGA steak seasoning was hands down the best I have ever tried and blows the Masterfoods one out of the water.

  • chumlee on 18/04/2019 - 20:37
    +50

    What's the deal with Ovaltine? The jar is round…the mug is round…it should be called 'Round-tine'. 

    • ozbjunkie on 19/04/2019 - 09:49
      +1

      Excellent - I was so sure it was Simpsons, but alas, Seinfeld.

      • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 12:21
        +6

        Well it obviously was Seineld
        Cos it started with

        What's the deal with…..

  • WreckTangle on 18/04/2019 - 20:40
    +14

    Two dollars off frozen prawns you say…

    • AlienC on 19/04/2019 - 15:02
      +5

      Remember what they say.. if you can smell ammonia.. then you need to be agonia

      ok nobody says that but i thought it rhymed nice

  • Etheral Point on 18/04/2019 - 20:42
    +4

    just my 2 cents.
    when I was growing up there was a supIGA near us and they often had good deals.
    more recently my parents have retired up the caost and rave about the meat deals at a nearby IGA (I think it's the north wyong store), and honestly they do have amazing deals but it's not in the catalogue you have to either vist them or check out the facebook page.

    • jjjaar on 19/04/2019 - 00:34
      +1

      Agreed. I live near a supaIGA and their normal prices are competitive to the local Coles, some specials are far better. Oh, and the service is better.

      • jikijiki on 21/04/2019 - 20:20

        Realistically, how much better is the service at Coles or Woolies? Isn't the transactions as simple as asking them to cut what you want, wrap it up and give it to you?

        • jjjaar on 22/04/2019 - 01:19

          Most Coles or woolies in my area are equal in service to that IGA, but the one adjacent to that IGA is another level.

          There’s never anyone manning self checkouts so if something goes wrong it takes ages, (and there’s only 6 machines), there’s only ever one person on a checkout, there’s never anyone working fruit and veg so (if you’re not lucky enough to get veg that’s not riddled with bugs) if you do want someone to cut it, no one can. To be fair, their dairy department is actually always there and responsive. If the milk I want isn’t on the shelf, they always check and 80% of the time had it out the back (though now I wonder why it wasn’t already on the shelf as they’re always their filling the shelves!)

    • heatseeker424 on 20/04/2019 - 15:28

      Can confirm that the North Wyong store has great deals on meat. They also stock locally caught seafood. There's no way you'd get that at Woolies.

  • zombrex on 18/04/2019 - 21:23
    +2

    My local IGA employs a high percentage of guys to work on the checkouts which is good to see they don't discriminate. They also have more higher quality and local food products you can't get from the duopoly.

    • Ozpit on 19/04/2019 - 09:38
      +4

      Yeah, but do they pay them as high as they pay the chicks?

      • Antikythera on 19/04/2019 - 13:12
        +2

        26% more is likely.

    • anastasiastarz on 23/04/2019 - 08:49

      LOL the local one here, girls and pretty boys do checkouts. One guy was slightly offended but then again it's an lighter job.

  • spackbace on 18/04/2019 - 21:32
    +7

    Some are disgusting and really only somewhere you go in emergencies (hello East Vic Park), some take pride in their stores and have amazing deli sections or butchers (hello canning Vale butcher section)

    All depends how much they care

    Plus it's generally iga only for rural areas

    • Ozpit on 19/04/2019 - 10:02

      I drove around Oz last year and in one horse towns where Coles and Woolies couldn’t be bothered, there’d be a small IGA. Ever seen a tiny Coles or Woolies?

      • Clear on 19/04/2019 - 10:41
        -1

        Small country town Coles and Woolies are scary. So bogan.

        • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 10:53

          Small country towns are so dark and scary. Let's not visit there unless someone brings a light. Classic fear of the darkness phobia…

          • Clear on 19/04/2019 - 11:08

            @[Deactivated]: Gees calm down. I wouldn't have a job if small towns didn't exist so I'm not against them.

      • readeral on 19/04/2019 - 20:55

        Woolies have a tonne of small stores. There was one in Erskineville, Sydney just up from the station. Trying to be an IGA-clone with a cafe baked in.

  • Godric on 18/04/2019 - 23:59

    IGA? Never been

    • AustriaBargain on 19/04/2019 - 00:06
      -4

      In South Australia they call their super IGAs "Foodland"

      • coin saver on 19/04/2019 - 05:28
        +1

        No they don't Foodland is simply another cooperative that sold its name to Metcash which despite having different managment is run as a subsidary of IGA .I suspect the name Foodland will disappear over the next couple of years as Foodland will be losing almost half their stores in a few months time when Drakes break away from Foodland/IGA and become totally independent.

        • AustriaBargain on 19/04/2019 - 21:49

          What’s different about a fiidkand and a super IGA,other than some Foodlands not being very big?

          • frostface on 21/04/2019 - 09:13
            +1

            @AustriaBargain: Some of them probably are somewhat similar to Super IGAs, probably more so in regional areas, but most are run by another group/subsidiary (such as Drakes, Romeos, Adelaide's Finest) and as well as stocking standard IGA/Foodland products, will also have their own products and specials that you can't get at other Foodlands. IGA is a bit of a dirty word in SA, as they're usually small supermarkets that are open long hours with expensive groceries - this is due to our archaic trading hour regulations that mean only small supermarkets can open long hours.

  • altomic on 19/04/2019 - 02:24
    -1

    Irish Greyhound Association?

    • Davo1111 on 19/04/2019 - 07:58

      independent grocers

      • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 12:56

        Irish independent grocers? 😕

        • AlienC on 19/04/2019 - 15:02

          Independent Gamers Association

          • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 15:04

            @AlienC: Is that an Income Generating Activity?

            • AlienC on 19/04/2019 - 15:06
              +1

              @[Deactivated]: I think it may be but
              I Guess Always

              • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2019 - 15:11

                @AlienC: No its not! You , IGnorant Alien ;)

                And yes, that's cheating:(

  • kyle on 19/04/2019 - 07:31
    +1

    Went to the Templestowe VIC IGA one evening after dinner at the nearby restaurant and wanting to buy some bread. Bread shelves are like that 95% empty except for some gluten free stuff that's left. Would never see that in Woolies or Coles. Didn't buy any bread and so might as well have a walk around. Everything including fruit is like 10-20% more expensive compared to the big two.

    • papachris on 19/04/2019 - 21:10
      +6

      In my experience, metro Colesworths are often breadless (or at least bread-challenged) in the evenings. Talking about the fresh bakery area, that is…

    • Harold Halfprice on 20/04/2019 - 16:34

      Templestowe IGA is pretty crappy. Small, expensive, it's in an area that gets really busy and there's a both a Woolies and Coles not overly far away in either direction.

      That said, I've seen the Woolies at Macedon Plaza with empty breadshelves many times.

      • kyle on 20/04/2019 - 21:28

        I must have gone to Macedon Plaza at the right times.

  • buderim11 on 19/04/2019 - 07:57
    +8

    My next door neighbor bought a small Iga business , they lost a fortune before they managed to off load it.

    They told me that they could buy a lot of products cheaper at woolworths than from Metcash wholesale prices …

    • freakatronic on 20/04/2019 - 09:20
      +1

      0_0

    • Slippery Otter on 20/04/2019 - 14:21

      Yup plus take ages to pay rebates for certain specials…

  • crashloaded on 19/04/2019 - 08:36
    +4

    Unfortunately the business model for IGA/Metcash is outdated and it won't be long before convenience sector is dominated by the big 3. Buying from metcash works like this;

    1. Buy stock at a low price from metcash on promotion.
    2. Sell said stock at just above cost price for the "special" week.
    3. Make money by investing a lot into the stock at a low price so that once the special week is finished, you make a good profit selling the stock at retail.
    4. Keep in mind you are bound by contract as part of the group to run the specials that are advertised. They actually send people around to check.

    The problem is, today's consumer is a ticket shopper. So it is very hard to sell items at a retail price, when the item next to it, that is similar, but may be a different brand, is on special for half price.

    Very hard to make money in the convenience sector unless you're in a rural area with not much competition. Not to mention extended trading hours by the Big 3 make convenience store opening hours irrelevant these days.

    • idonotknowwhy on 19/04/2019 - 10:39
      +2

      Very hard to make money in the convenience sector unless you're in a rural area with not much competition

      Nope, inner city Melbourne 7/11 and IGA stores are always packed with people buying small, overpriced snacks, etc.
      It looks like the staff never get a break, especially at some of the 711's.

      • crashloaded on 19/04/2019 - 11:10
        +4

        Yes true, places with high population and high foot traffic can also survive, that's my mistake there.

        Although 711 is a franchise so I don't put them in the same category as IGA.

    • mousie on 19/04/2019 - 19:22

      Caltex is making signficant inroads into maknig competition in this space.. Watch out for the next 5 years.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2019 - 18:03
      +1

      make money by investing a lot into the stock at a low price so that once the special week is finished, you make a good profit selling the stock at retail.

      This would explain why they would run out of cookies n cream connoisseur ice-cream on day #2 of the specials but would always have heaps once they were back to normal price. Not fun when your pregnant wife is having an ice-cream craving and your local IGA is only metres away from home but colesworth is 2 suburbs away?😒

      • crashloaded on 20/04/2019 - 18:42

        Yep, exactly why haha

  • Lastchancetosee on 19/04/2019 - 09:25
    +2

    Handy convenience stores at a pinch, but pricy overall. I'm yet to find one with fruit and vegetables that are fresh and appetising, and meat that doesn't look as though the animal died long before reaching the abattoir.

    • petry on 19/04/2019 - 09:34
      +2

      that's Coles these days - you need to check the store name….

  • DazMon on 19/04/2019 - 11:10
    +1

    As much as I don't like IGA stores there are 2 really good ones where you can find stuff that you just don't see anywhere else.
    Mount Martha and Mount Waverley.
    They are SUPA IGA whatever that means.

    • xuqi on 19/04/2019 - 11:53

      SUPA IGA's are full-service (size, range of products) outlets meant to compete with the big boys…

      Generally speaking though, they're normally SUPA overpriced..

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