Berlin IGA's History

IGA Stores have a long rich history in the Berlin Area since the 1950's. At one point in time there were a combination of four IGA Stores operating at the same time, being operated by The Rousseau Family and The Fred Prince Family.

Starting in the 1950's Fred Prince Sr. operated what was then known as the corner market and later opened the Foodliner (the store that we occupy today) in 1961. In the late 70's and 80's Fred Prince Jr. operated the IGA corner market.

In the 1950's and 1960's Oliva Rousseau Sr. operated Rousseau's Market on the corner of Coos and Beaudoin Streets. Oliva Sr.'s son Normand Rousseau continued to operate Rousseau's Market on the east side through the mid 1980's. Meanwhile, in the late 70's, Oliva Rousseau Jr. opened Mt.Valley IGA located in the Mountain Valley Plaza in Gorham. In 1980 Oliva Jr. purchased the IGA Foodliner and operated both Mt. Valley IGA and the Foodliner until 1985 when the Mt. Valley store was sold to the Butson Family and in 1986 the Rousseaus sold the Foodliner to Sue and Steve Tardiff who operate the Foodliner today.

All of the IGA Stores throughout the years have been strong community stores offering fresh meat, produce and groceries and have operated with the highest of customer service standards for over 50 years. These business traditions and practices still exist in the IGA Foodliner today.

About IGA

The Independent Grocers Alliance was founded in 1926, bringing together independent grocers across the United States to ensure that the trusted, family-owned local grocery store remained strong in the face of growing chain competition.

Today, that entrepreneurial family business spirit is alive and well, and communities across the U.S. are being served by second, third and even fourth generation independent IGA retailers. And IGA is expanding across the globe, as well; IGA's Hometown Proud stores can now be found all around the world.

In a time of cookie-cutter chains, IGA stores stand out as distinctively unique, just like the communities they serve. The Alliance includes nearly 5,000 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, with stores in 46 of the United States and more than 30 countries, commonwealths and territories around the globe.