SA retailers nominated for International Retailer of the Year awards

Take n Pay Food Town Hyper Chatsworth

The IGA is a global retail alliance group that was founded in 1926 to bring family-owned, local, independent retailers together under the IGA brand, to give them the ability to better compete, while at the same time allowing them to stay true to their purpose as local stores that serve the needs of their unique communities.

Supersave Food Town Hyper and Take n Pay Food Town Hyper are members of Unitrade Management Services (UMS) and as such, receive ongoing assistance to grow and build their businesses. UMS has over 400 independent retail and wholesale members that together form a powerful force in the market, enabling these entrepreneurial, family-owned businesses to flourish. UMS provides marketing, strategy, operational support, financial management, IT, business development and buying power to these companies.

UMS is the exclusive partner for IGA in Africa, with the two organisations sharing a common vision to join hands with independent retailers, to build strong and successful businesses. IGA has a brand alliance with over 6,000 independent retailers in more than 30 countries around the world.

“Our members provide a great shopping experience and highly competitive pricing to their customers,” says Jad Pereira, CEO, UMS. “We are so proud of the achievements of our two nominees. Their dedication to the well-being of their communities, and their commitment to providing a first-class store for their customers is truly inspirational.”

Supersave Food Town Hyper

Commitment to communities

According to UMS, shopping local builds a strong, relationship-based local economy, provides jobs for residents and retains more of the money spent by locals in their communities. Community involvement is an important consideration for IGA when selecting their nominees for the awards.

Commenting after last year’s IGA International Retailer of the Year awards, IGA CEO John Ross says it is amazing to see the entrepreneurial spirit, sense of pride and creativity of independent local retailers. “While these stores are a clear representation of the diversity of different cultures from around the world, the one thing that is common across all of them is their commitment to the customers and communities they serve.”

The criteria against which the stores are judged also includes how the store owner ensures that their store stands out from the competition, drives departmental sales, keeps shoppers coming back and solves specific problems they would face in their unique market.

Co-owners Abu Khatib and Suhail Bayat from Supersave Food Town Hyper and owner Ismail Salajee from Take n Pay Food Town Hyper will join a group of nominated retailers from around the world at the IGA Rally in San Diego, California from 22 to 24 February 2019, where the winners will be announced.