The IGA (Int'l Grocers Alliance) isn't a grocery chain; it's basically a buying group of independent grocers. In our area, many smaller grocery stores are IGA members. The private label products will be consistent in all of them but the meats and fresh foods can vary greatly.

You'll really have to judge each one invidividually.

Thanks, Ruthanna. That makes sense. Also means I might be wise to check out the IGA about 20 miles in the other direction.

I know the urban food selection around Louisville pretty well--Whole Foods, Costco, Sams, Trader Joe's, Kroger's, Meijer's , World Market, Penzey's, a lot of small ethnic groceries.....and more near us--all within maybe 15 miles.

IGA was new to me. This one is the only grocery in a small rural town (2,000) that also serves the surrounding farming community.

This is a generalization, but I find that independent grocers in small towns often have stuff unavailable in fancier stores. I live in a town of about 35,000 that has a Publix, and it's fine for most stuff. However, if I want to make a big batch of chicken stock (which I do a couple of times a year) I go about ten miles out of town to a dinky little IGA where I can get all sorts of stock making goodies like turkey necks and chicken backs which aren't found in the fancier grocery stores. And you can probably bet their corn meal is fresher than that found in a snooty upscale market--higher turnover.

Thanks, Arley.
That generalization is what I was hoping for. There is a butcher shop in the IGA, though it wasn't manned on Sunday. My friend said the butcher there often has real ''goodies'' not available at Krogers. I would LOVE to find good chicken stock makings!

A local IGA tries to be as personalized to their town as space will allow because, like said above, it is personal, a local business. There is one here, and a small deep-discount store. The IGA is a "full-service" place where they still have baggers who take the groceries out the car for you, and the shelves are never empty.

I love our IGA. The meat selection and taste is much better than our local chains. They will carry anything you ask for - gluten free bread, specialty cheeses, etc. and usually at the same or lower price than the chain stores. Today I was not going to buy the milk, as the sell by date was 12/26. The gentleman stocking the dairy asked if I wanted a later date and cheerfully went to the back and got one.

Oasisowner and Purpleinopp--
Really interesting. Now I regret an IGA that was open for several years near me and I never visited it.
I'll get back to this thread with my own impressions of this first small town/rural store on a second visit, and perhaps comparing it to the other one in my range, which is more in an urban area. Haven't visited that one yet.
My curiosity is really whetted.
Thanks, everyone!
More input appreciated in the meantime!