BATH

Clearly, Steve and Kimberly Brackett have a winner at their IGA.

The grocery at 185 Front St. has earned Five Star status for the third consecutive year — one of only four of the 27 IGAs in the state to win the award, determined through in-store appraisals. Signage, cleanliness, proper product dating and courtesy are among the qualifying factors.

But to Missy Coniam, deli manager for seven years at Brackett’s, it’s not complicated.

“We’re exceptional,” Coniam said late Monday morning, as her staff attended to customers. “We treat customers like gold. At least we try.”

Coniam said that customers might want curd cheese, found mostly in Canada. Or maybe even Scrapple. “If they can’t find it, we will find it for them or order it for them.”

Coniam manages a staff of eight at the deli, located right next to the meat counter at Brackett’s, which is big enough to be a supermarket but not so big you might lose your way around. They have a nice rapport with customers.

“I give them my own nicknames,” she said. “Beautiful, or blue eyes. These customers, I love. It’s real cheerful here. It really is.”

The Brackett’s deli staff also maintains a steam table with a variety of hot dishes for takeout. Customers and employees alike love it, Coniam said.

Steve Brackett can hear the beeping of the registers from his small office at the front of the store. When he walks by the front doors, he greets customers as they walk in.

“You get to know people on a personal basis,” Brackett said.

Brackett’s offers 10,000 square feet of shopping space, and the parking lot is easily accessible from Front Street. The Brackett’s doubled their store space in 2003 when they moved the store there from the what is now Amato’s. The space — originally an A&P — had been vacant for a year after Rite Aid moved out.

“People love the size of the store,” Brackett said. “They love the easy in-and-out.”

The awards don’t get old, nor does Brackett take them for granted.

“We at Brackett’s Market IGA are so proud to be Bath’s Five Star IGA,” Brackett said. “We achieved this honor by working as a team to meet the needs of our customers. I’d like to thank my dedicated team for their hard work day in and day out.

“IGA has a high bar. We’re checked out by mystery shoppers four times a year, then we get emails the next day on their findings.”

Mark Bateric, chief executive officer with IGA, said Brackett’s is a “shining example of a store that is elevating the power of the IGA brand by providing a total customer experience.”

Goggin’s IGA of Randolph, Hillside IGA of Fort Fairfield and Star City IGA of Presque Isle are IGA’s other three Five Star Retailers in the state this year.

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,” according to the company website.