By Aimee Chanthadavong
In aim to create a more targeted shopping experience for locals, IGA has launched IGA Marketplace in Sydney that has been designed to cater for the young inner-city dwellers seeking gourmet food, grocery and supermarket shopping.
Relacing IGA Darlinghurst, the two-level 974 square metre store breaks away from the traditional IGA format. It carries approximately 25,000 SKUs with great focus on gourmet, gluten-free, organic and free trade products.
The top level has the standard supermarket products, which are sourced from Metcash, while the lower level has heavy emphasis on fresh and gourmet foods that are delivered direct from local producers. It also features a full-service delicatessen and café.
According to Silvestro Morabito, Metcash chief operation officer food and grocery, IGA Marketplace is in line with IGA’s motto of ‘how the locals like it’ with the realisation that it’s no longer one model fits all.
“’How the locals like it’ is not a marketing strategy. It is our way of changing the culture in independent supermarkets by embedding the culture and products exactly how the customers want it,” he says.
The store is the first of a range of metropolitan IGA stores to be rolled out over the next 12 months in metro Sydney and Brisbane, to locations within 5KM of each CBD.
According to Morabito, the store is part of Metcash’s buy-back strategy where it buys back underperforming stores. The IGA Marketplace stores are a joint venture between IGA owner The Hopper Group and supplier to IGA outlets, Metcash.
Unable to disclose any specific details until June, Morabito says since the store’s opening on May 15 sales have been “well above previously experienced”.