IGA's Heidi Huff Promoted to Senior Director, Red Oval Partners

CHICAGO (April 26, 2018) IGA today announced Heidi Huff, Director of Marketing for IGA USA, has been promoted to Senior Director, Red Oval Partnerships, effective immediately. Huff will report directly to IGA CEO John Ross.

Huff, who joined IGA in 2008 as Marketing Manager, has served as IGA’s Director of Marketing since 2012. In her new role, Huff will have primary responsibility for the management and growth of the IGA Red Oval Family, a unique partnership of premier national brand manufacturers and service providers who together with IGA create innovative opportunities that are traditionally unavailable to independent grocery retailers. Working intimately with IGA’s nearly 40 existing Red Oval Family members as well as new partners she will recruit to the family, Huff will identify and develop strategies that use IGA’s innovative new marketing, communications and training programs to build more sales and profit potential for IGA retailers and Red Oval partners alike.

 “Heidi is a committed brand ambassador who brings a level of enthusiasm to the work we do that is both inspiring and contagious,” IGA CEO John Ross says. “As we move forward with new program initiatives that create more opportunity for our IGA retailers and our brand, that contagious enthusiasm combined with Heidi’s proven track record working hand-in-hand with both major brands and smaller regional players to create successful sales programs is exactly what we need to engage our manufacturing and service provider Red Oval partners. Each of them will have a role to play in IGA going forward. From taking center stage with new products and content on our National Digital Ad, to providing the services that will help our retailers do their jobs faster, easier and better. We need our Red Ovals to understand, embrace and get truly excited about what IGA has to offer, and Heidi’s the perfect person to do just that.”

“There’s no better job than working to help IGA retailers succeed—unless it’s working with the world’s best brands and service providers to make it happen,” Huff says. “It’s such an exciting time right now at IGA. Every day brings new opportunities to leverage IGA’s heritage and brand power and expand our innovation. I can’t wait to work with the Red Oval partners to take advantage of the momentum, and achieve even greater value from their relationship with IGA and its retailers.”

Huff has held several marketing and branding management positions throughout her career. Before coming to IGA, she worked for Building Leaders, a Chicago-based sales training company, where she implemented marketing and branding activities, and also managed the overall delivery of programs and services, including eCommerce, sales/marketing, and event coordination. Prior to her tenure with Building Leaders, Huff was a business development consultant working with independent businesses to develop marketing and promotional programs, sales training, and all related communication tools. She also brings operational and sales development experience from Corner Bakery Café.

The Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $36 billion per year. The Alliance includes nearly 6,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and nearly 40 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers known as IGA’s Red Oval Family partners. IGA has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories.