2020 IGA Hometown Proud Retailer of the Year Ron Martin

Grants IGA Supermarkets, currently spanning 16 retail locations, is deeply invested in their communities throughout southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia. To save several communities from becoming food deserts after national chains exited the area, Grants stepped in to purchase and renovate those stores to provide a full-service grocery store—often the only one in these small towns.

These communities now have a superior shopping experience with access to fresh foods and stellar meat departments, thanks to the leadership team of Ron Martin, Ronnie Cruey, and Randle Grant.

The teams experience and dedication shine in their commitment to further supporting their rural communities through several fundraising efforts each year, donating over 14,000 food bags to local pantries and raising nearly $53,000 for local high schools and veterans and service members all while offering the nourishment the communities need through the stores' offerings.

That dedication to community has been obvious in their pandemic response as well. The team worked tirelessly to come up with ways to better serve their shoppers, from enacting safety protocols to protect team members and shoppers alike, to making online shopping available at all 16 locations and waiving the online ordering fee to ensure the service was available even to cash-strapped customers.