Shop Local. Eat Fresh. Spend Less. Signage Now Available A La Carte!

As shoppers continue to have concerns over rising food prices, independent retailers must double down on reassuring them of the value they get when shopping local. The best way to demonstrate that value? Deliver your messaging wherever your shoppers are, both in store and online.

Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) members can do just that with the "Shop Local. Eat Fresh. Spend Less.” signage kit, which now offers á là carte options including:

• Aisle Blades
• Hanging Signs
• Meat Case Dividers
• Window Sign
• Glass Clings
• Stanchion Sign
• Shelf Wobblers

The in-store signs, online educational content (including recipes) and social media assets in the kit will put you ahead of national chain competition by highlighting your local points of difference.

Emphasize value and give shoppers budget-friendly tips

The kit includes QR codes that link to family meal planning; home recipes for their favorite restaurant meals; casseroles for quick, inexpensive, and hearty meals; and videos that show how to use one protein source for multiple meals.

You also receive matching digital assets of the signs for eCommerce, social media, and iga.com/savings, which links to national offers from our Red Oval CPG partners.

Jimmy Wright, owner of Wright’s Market in Opelika, Alabama, recently used those digital assets for in a value-focused campaign that included emails highlighting their quality meats and weekly bulk meat deals.

We continue to operate in an environment of high food prices and aggressive competition. The recently announced acquisition of Winn Dixie by Aldi will only intensify a marketplace where the focus on price is front and center," Wright said. 

"While we don’t claim to be the 'low price leader' by any means, it is important to get credit for the value we deliver with our weekly ad, temporary price reduction program, and aggressive retails on everyday items such as milk, bread, bananas and our core meat items."

Some of the value-focused signage in stores.

IGA Senior Manager of Shopper Content Megan Drazer invites all independent grocers to join in embracing the power of the “Shop Local. Eat Fresh. Spend Less.” signage kit.

“Nearly half of our shoppers believe we are or soon will be in a recession. Too many of our shoppers are currently experiencing food insecurity,” Drazer said. “Being able to put food on the table affordably is top of mind for many, and this signage is one small step in letting your shoppers know you’re doing everything you can to help.”

Wright is in the process of installing his new signs and has expressed his excitement for the bright yellow coloring. With all of his pricing programs combined (signs and décor), Wright's Market will have about 300-400 of the new signs throughout the store.

With the shelf and bin display signs already installed, Wright said the shopper response to the new messaging and the bright color has been very positive. 

"I love the yellow color; it really pops for us," Wright said. “Yellow has always been associated with value, like some of the dollar store groups that use a lot of yellow in their stores and signage. I really liked the way it turned out. My goal is to have so many of the yellow signs up in the store that [IGA CEO] John Ross can see the glow of my store from the patio of his house two hours away!"

Whether you're as excited about bright colors as Wright or just want to highlight an independent grocery store’s true value proposition — that your stores are locally owned and community focused — the evergreen signs will work year-round no matter the season or economic climate. After all, shoppers always want a good value.

When asked why he pursued this signage, Wright said it piggybacks on other previous success of highlighting value, like having a reduced price on core items in his meat department.

“With 40% of our business of our business coming from the SNAP program, our customers count on us to offer affordable prices in order to feed their families," Wright said. "The 'Shop Local. Eat Fresh. Spend Less.' signage communicates that message to our shoppers."

Photos of the Shop Local. Eat Fresh. Spend Less. signage at Wright’s Market.

"IGA offers so many great marketing tools, but this one may be the best ever for us as it lines up perfectly with who we are — shop local (the hometown store), eat fresh (our longtime focus on meat), and spend less (communicating to the customer the great prices we offer in all departments)," Wright said.

Ready to order signage to demonstrate your local value? Order the full kit here. If you would like to order signs á là carte, call Red Oval Partner DG Graphics and tell them which signs you need: 860-286-9997. They'll process the order and ship them to you. Want the digital assets for social media, website, and email promotion? Download them here.