National award for Kincumber IGA

Some of the happy staff members at the Kincumber store

IGA Xpress at Kincumber, recently rebranded as Local Grocer plus Liquor IGA Kincumber, has taken out the Small Format Store Innovation Award at the National IGA Awards of Excellence 2022.

After taking the 2022 Store of the Year and Store Innovation awards for NSW and the ACT at the state awards, the family-owned store proceeded to the national, finals, where its innovation practices earned it the top gong.

Store manager, Kerry Beck, said staff were very proud of the achievement and looked forward to continuing to support the local community.

“Our new name will see new signage installed and allow us to be competitive with other supermarkets and bottle shops and still keep our good old fashioned customer service,” Beck said.

“We have a big variety of groceries, perishable products, fresh produce and a fantastic bottle shop instore with a great range.”

Beck has been manager at the family-owned store for two years after working for 20 years at the Umina Mall.

“I love working at Kincumber – the IGA people are fantastic and there are area and department managers to help you out when you need it,” she said.

“It’s a friendly store – you get to know a lot of the customers by their first names (and) everyone says is has a really nice atmosphere.”

With a staff of 12, the store continues to thrive with a community focus and provides online shopping and DoorDash with competitive catalogue specials and wheelchair access.

It sponsors the Kincumber Colts and supports the local tennis club.

Terry Collins

The national award takes pride of place at the store