Isom IGA Reopens in Kentucky

Beloved indie grocer rebounds from destructive floods

4/3/2023

After nearly nine months of repairs, Isom IGA, in Isom, Ky., has planned several events to commemorate its return to the Letcher County community.

Isom IGA grocery store in Isom, Ky., has reopened its doors after devastating floods shut it down last July. After nearly nine months of repairs, the store has planned several events to commemorate its return to the Letcher County community, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 5. Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) CEO John Ross will be among the many special guests in attendance.

Ahead of the rebuilt store’s official debut, Isom IGA held a soft opening on Saturday, April 1 at 7:00 a.m.

Following the floods, Isom IGA was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. The 16,000-square-foot store, which opened in 1973, was the only full-service grocery store in town, with the next-closest grocers 12 miles away. 

“The store is my home away from home, and the employees and community are an extension of my family,” said Gwen Christon, who 25 years ago purchased the store with her husband, Arthur. She has worked at Isom IGA almost from the time it opened.

In the immediate wake of the floods, Christon lent the Isom IGA parking lot to nonprofit World Central Kitchen to help feed a community in need. Meanwhile, the Alex Lee Inc. team, which includes Isom IGA’s distributor, MDI, played a key role in coordinating restoration and funding efforts for the local grocer.

Christon publicly vowed to rebuild and reopen as soon as possible, and Isom IGA quickly received substantial donations toward rebuilding efforts from many IGA retailers, as well as grocers and wholesalers across the country, in addition to many other organizations.

“To see a hometown grocer like Isom IGA be rebuilt with an overwhelming amount of national and community support speaks to its vital role in its neighborhood,” said John Ross, CEO of Chicago-based IGA. “Not many small businesses are able to make a comeback after such devastation, but this independent retailer has defied the odds with a great triumph. We eagerly anticipate the good that is to come in Isom IGA’s next chapter.”

IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network, with aggregate worldwide retail sales of over $40 billion per year. The alliance includes more than 6,200 Hometown Proud Supermarkets. IGA has operations in 46 states and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories.

Hickory, N.C.-based MDI provides expertise, infrastructure and scale for independent grocers. With an assortment of more than 40,000 food and nonfood items, the wholesaler supplies hundreds of grocery stores in the United States and exports a variety of products to retailers and distributors in 36 countries. MDI is a subsidiary of Alex Lee Inc., which is also the parent company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Lowes Foods, operating more than 75 Lowes and Just $ave stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Alex Lee is No. 65 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.