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Houchens Industries brings two new IGA names to Columbia Special note: Columbia Houchens Market and the Columbia Junior Foods Store will be closed Tuesday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 27 2004, for remodeling and will reopen Thursday, October 28 as Hometown IGA and IGA Express, respectively. Additional update on changeover added October 21, 2004, below. Next Thursday, October 28, two Columbia stores will have new badges. Houchen's Market in Columbia will become Hometown IGA. And the Jr. Foods Store here will be IGA Express. The stores will remain under the same ownership, Houchen's Industries, the fast-growing diversified industry headquartered in Bowling Green, KY. And the company's third store here, Sav-a-lot, 105 East Guardian Street, between Burkesville Street and Reed Street, will continue under that name.Crews from Houchen's Industries are in Columbia now resetting the stores. They are directed by Chris Holley, the Glasgow District manager for the stores. The Columbia store is the fourth Houchens-to-Hometown IGA conversion. Many here are already familiar with the earlier conversion of the Greensburg Houchens, located at the intersection of US 68 and KY 61 on the east side of Greensburg. In addition, Holley said, Houchens Markets at Morgantown and Russellville now are Hometown IGA stores. The Columbia Hometown IGA will be in what has been Houchens third building, and second location since Houchens opened in Columbia in 1958. The first store, at Burkesville and Guardian, burned in the 1970s and was rebuilt on the same spot. Later the store moved to its present location, 900 Jamestown Street, just south, across Hurt Street, from Westlake Primary Care. Herbie Harrell, Houchen's manager for the past five years, will continue in the top spot in Columbia, but his title, in the IGA culture, will be that of "Store Director." The Columbia Jr. Foods Store changeover to IGA Express is the third Houchens Industries has made. Already, Jr. Foods stores in Morgantown and and Beaver Dam are carrying the IGA Express name. The store is located at 320 Campbellsville St., Columbia, KY, and the local manager is Cindy Bradshaw. An air of excitement pervades the market this week, though some customers are a little perplexed when they find that some items are in new locations. Apple sauce is on the opposite side of the store, near the bread shelves now, for instance, but the crew re-setting the store and regular staff are doing double duty this week directing customers to new locations for some of the product lines. Houchens has been an institution here In Columbia, Houchens fast became an institution, an important employer, and a dependable corporate citizen, supporting causes from help to small rural churches to major support for Lindsey Wilson College. The store offered great opportunities and excellent training for hundreds of employees. Working there provided a kind of on-the-job MBA. One-time Columbia store manager Kenneth Scott became one the the highest ranking Houchens executives. When the big fire closed the local store for several months in the 70s, there was a strain on food distribution in Adair County. Nobody went hungry just because of that hiatus; there were several other fine, locally owned, supermarkets here then. They performed heroically, and the inconveniences were tolerable. But the return of Houchens to the scene was a relief to Houchens loyal customer base. Houchens employees, even before they owned the store themselves, gave service beyond the norm, and some, such as lighting-fast cashiers Norma Sparks and Margaret Sparks are remembered in legendary measures. They were so fast with the old manual entry cash registers that many still believe they could have beat the checkout speeds of today's automated scanners. And knowing that Houchen's is pronounced "How-chins" could give locals an infrequent sense of superiority when better talking to newly-arrived folks from off who may have asked, "Where is this Hoochins store?" or who might have proudly told us that we had a right nice little supermarket, that "How-kins." And maybe a tiny few pronounced it "Ho-chins," or "Ho-kins." But to most Adair Countians, whatever it was called, it has been, for almost half-a-century their main source of groceries. In fact, in much of Houchen's history here, its sales were over half the entire category's revenues. Parent company growing Houchens Industries, now headed by Western Kentucky University alumnus Jimmie Gipson, has grown rapidly since the company became an employee-owned, or ESOP, company. Houchens Industries has achieved the 106th Place Ranking, according to Forbes Magazine among the privately owned companies in America. Some recent reports report revenues of over $2 billion annually. The National Center for Employee Ownership lists Houchens Industries as #20 ESOP in the nation in terms of number of employees. The company has grown from Irvin Houchens tiny country store south of Glasgow to what became, under his leadership, the dominant supermarket chain in South Central Kentucky. Houchens Industries has a diversification program which now extends into tobacco products manufacturing and marketing, store fixture manufacturing, and construction. Story update addition October 21, 2004 Houchens Executive Mike Gibbons gives background on IGA move in meeting at Pinewood "Always remember," Mike Gibbons, a spokesman for Houchen's Industries said, "that the name may be IGA, but all of the people working in the store are owners of Houchens Industries." Gibbons made the remark at a meeting Thursday evening, October 21, at Pinewood Country Club, to store representatives and community leaders from the media, financial sector, and local businesses. "It was hard for us to take the name Houchens off the store," he said. "But those of us who remember E.G. Houchens know that he was first of all an entrepreneur, and he would have wanted us to make this change." Mr. Gibbons said that by joining IGA (acronym for Independent Grocers Alliance), Houchens will be able to get lower prices through IGA's 5,000 store buying power. And he said that the change to the IGA name on the stores will add unity to Houchens outlets. On October 28, the former Jr. Foods and the former Houchens Markets will carry the same brands and prices. The company is simply approaching the market with multiple concepts, he said. In addition to Hometown IGA stores and IGA Express stores, a third IGA store is planned: "Crossroads IGA." This store will be smaller than an IGA market, and larger than an IGA Express. It will also offer gas, as do all IGA Express stores. Mr. Gibbons did not say when one of these might become part of the local market. Mr. Gibbons updated the informaton on Houchens Industries, saying that there are now 10,000 employee owners, which will mean huge jumps in its national rankings when new reports are forthcoming.Mr. Gibbons said that the company will go to "Priceless" advertising in the print media. "Specials will be located throughout the store." He said that there will be a much reduced budget for print advertising, and that would result in lower prices, he said. This story was posted on 2004-10-20 22:52:14
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