Harris Teeter
Encyclopedia
Harris Teeter is a chain of supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s based in Matthews, North Carolina
Matthews, North Carolina
Matthews is a large suburban town of Charlotte located in southeastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The population was 27,198 according to the 2010 Census.- Geography :Matthews is located at ....
, just outside Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
. , the chain operates 207 stores in eight Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
states: North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, and the District of Columbia.
Harris Teeter is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Charlotte-based Ruddick Corporation . The current president of Harris Teeter is Fred J. Morganthall II. Supermarket News ranked Harris Teeter No. 34 in the 2010 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2009 fiscal year sales of $2.92 billion. Based on 2005 revenue, Harris Teeter is the ninety-third largest retailer in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Harris Teeter traces its origins to two pioneering entrepreneurs William Thomas Harris and Willis L. Teeter in Depression-era Charlotte. Harris, an employee of the A&PThe Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a supermarket and liquor store chain in the United States. Its supermarkets, which are under six different banners, are found in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. A&P's liquor stores, known as...
store on Central Avenue and Pecan that was Charlotte's first supermarket, borrowed funds in 1936 to open the Harris Super Market at 1704 Central Avenue. The store had eight employees. It was primarily a dry goods store because frozen foods and refrigeration did not become common until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. To the family and then employees, it was known as Store #1. Today this store, now Harris Teeter store #201, is still in operation but will be replaced by a two story store on the same site.
Harris' store was the first in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to allow customers to select their own groceries off shelves. Before this time, customers handed a shopping list to a clerk, who then selected the groceries for the customers. The store was also open until 9:00 p.m. on Fridays, at a time when most grocery stores closed their doors at 5:00. This was done to appeal to working families and to capture their grocery shopping after they were paid on Fridays. Later, the Harris Super Market was the first grocery store in Charlotte to add air conditioning. However, as a devout Baptist, Harris refused to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in any of his stores, including the post-merger Harris Teeter supermarkets until the acquisition by Ruddick.
Harris also ran his own dairy farm and sold products from his dairy in his stores. For his wife, LaVerne, the dairy products carried the brand name of Vernedale Farms. Harris pioneered the first dairy co-op among local dairy farmers. After running the co-op for several years, he negotiated its sale to Pet Dairy.
Harris Super Markets began primarily as a family business. Most of Harris's brothers and sisters were employees, and brothers and brothers-in-law were store managers. His sister, Sarah, ran the accounting department and his wife's sister was Harris's personal secretary. His son, Donald Thomas Harris, began working for the company at 8 years old by sweeping floors. Donald suggested that Harris Teeter should carry more than just food products, and recommended the introduction of health and beauty aids, school supplies, bakeware, kitchen tools, and seasonal items (such as coolers in the summer). His father liked the idea and told Don that he should create and run that division of the company, which he did until his retirement in 1995. He was the last member of the family that worked for the company.
Harris was instrumental in the permanent placement of kindergarten in the North Carolina public school system, and supported the effort to turn Charlotte College into what is known today as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was a lifelong trustee for Wingate College, which began as a two year Baptist community college and transformed into the Wingate University. W.T. Harris Boulevard in Charlotte is named after him.
In 1939, Willis L. Teeter – who also worked for A&P, at its Mooresville, North Carolina
Mooresville, North Carolina
Mooresville is a large suburban town in southern Iredell County, North Carolina, USA. It is in the Metrolina metro area. The population was 32,133 at the 2010 United States Census...
store – and his brother Paul borrowed $1,700 to open Teeter's Food Mart on Main Street in Mooresville
Mooresville, North Carolina
Mooresville is a large suburban town in southern Iredell County, North Carolina, USA. It is in the Metrolina metro area. The population was 32,133 at the 2010 United States Census...
, north of Charlotte. Teeter's store implemented many of the innovations pioneered by Harris at his store, and both stores were successful in fairly short order.
Eventually, the two chains contained 15 total stores by the late 1950s, and in 1958 the companies began sharing storage and buying procedures. The merger of Harris Super Markets and Teeter's Food Marts became official on February 1, 1960; the first store to open under the new banner of Harris Teeter Supermarkets was in Kannapolis
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte. The population was 42,625 at the 2010 census, which makes Kannapolis the 20th largest city in North Carolina...
.
New ownership and 1980's expansion
Harris Teeter was purchased in 1969 by holding company Ruddick Corporation of Charlotte, North Carolina.Harris Teeter's 1980 purchase of the Hunter Farms dairy in High Point, North Carolina
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina....
, enabled the company to substantially reduce dairy costs; today, all Harris Teeter-brand and Hunter Farms-brand dairy products come from the Hunter dairy. Hunter also provides dairy products to companies and organizations not associated with Harris Teeter, including convenience stores, schools, Lowe's Foods private label ice creams and the Wendy's frosty.
In 1984, Harris Teeter purchased several Food World stores in and around Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, also acquiring a warehouse in the western part of Greensboro as part of the purchase. This marked the first foray of the company outside its Charlotte base and also began a demographic shift still in process today. Before this point, the company was a grocer in the vein of Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain operating in the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States, run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire....
, where a mix of rural and urban stores made up the company in general. Past this point, Harris Teeter began to focus more on higher-income urban sites. This trend continued with HT's 1988 purchase of Big Star Supermarkets, giving it a foothold in the Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
-Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
market.
Ashcraft retired in 1986, and Edward Dunn took over as president of Harris Teeter in that year. On Dunn's watch, Harris Teeter began expansion outside North Carolina. The first expanded stores were in northern South Carolina, near Charlotte; later expansions led the company to Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
, Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, and the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
region of Virginia. The "Very Important Customer" program, popularly known as VIC, was introduced late in Dunn's tenure. This program was one of the first widespread loyalty card programs now popular throughout American grocery stores. The VIC program advertised "giveaways" such as turkeys for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, beach apparel for the summer, and gift cards to Harris Teeter stores.
Harris Teeter was one of the first chains to test plastic grocery bags, in 1981, and to add child-restraint belts to shopping cart
Shopping cart
A shopping cart is a cart supplied by a shop, especially supermarkets, for use by customers inside the shop for transport of merchandise to the check-out counter during shopping...
s, in 1985.
The chain's flagship store during the 1980s was in Charlotte's Cotswold neighborhood
Cotswold (neighborhood)
The Cotswold neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina most likely takes its name from a large shopping center, Cotswold Village Shops, located at the intersection of Randolph and Sharon Amity Roads. Originally known as Cotswold Mall, it was Charlotte's first suburban mall. Cotswold is emerging as...
. It featured a waterfall and a fresh orange juice machine in the produce department, and for a brief period stocked fresh truffles that were flown in from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and priced at $300 a pound.
Harris Teeter today and further expansion
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
which happened right after his take-over as president, through the end of the 1990's. However the moves into Atlanta and Jacksonville ended up proving unsuccessful after a few short years.
During the end of the 1990's was when Harris Teeter briefly expanded into Atlanta with 15 stores around the city and its suburbs. There were plans to further expand in Atlanta, but these plans were only partially fulfilled and poorly executed, leaving the chain to pull out of the Atlanta market altogether in 2001. Atlanta already had an established supermarket base with Publix
Publix
Publix Super Markets, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Lakeland, Florida.Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, it is an employee-owned, privately held corporation. Publix is currently ranked No. 86 on Fortune magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 and was ranked No...
and Kroger
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
. The former Harris Teeter stores in Atlanta were bought by and converted to Kroger stores after.
Harris Teeter originally operated three stores in the greater Jacksonville area when they expanded into that market in the late 1990's. However only one store remains opened serving Amelia Island
Amelia Island
Amelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island is situated off the coast in Nassau County,...
/Fernandina Beach
Fernandina Beach, Florida
Fernandina Beach is a city in Nassau County in the state of Florida in the United States of America and on Amelia Island. It is a part of Greater Jacksonville and is among Florida's northernmost cities. The area was first inhabited by the Timucuan Indian tribe...
, and thus making it Harris Teeter's only Florida location, albeit just south of the Georgia border. The Mandarin area store closed in 2004. October 3, 2006 brought the closing of its Ponte Vedra Beach location.
Starting in the 2000's, Harris Teeter has attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors by providing exceptional customer service and newly "branded" departments. The first department to be "branded" was the meat department, which in June 2002 began offering "Harris Teeter Rancher" beef. This was followed by the introductions of the Farmers' Market (produce department, October 2003), the Fisherman's Market (seafood department, April 2004), and the Fresh Foods Market (deli/bakery, January 2005). Gourmet imported items are sold under the "H.T. Traders" brand.
Harris Teeter stores are now separated into 3 regions and 15 districts. The Northern Region, based in Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
, encompasses all stores in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the northern coastal area of North Carolina. The Central Region, based in Raleigh, encompasses stores from Greensboro/High Point to Wilmington and Albemarle. The Southern Region, based in Charlotte, contains stores in southwestern North Carolina (including Charlotte and Winston-Salem), Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
The official mascot of Harris Teeter has been "Harry the Happy Dragon" since 1992. Its slogan is "Your Neighborhood Food Market", although the older slogan "The Best Is What We're All About" still appears frequently in stores. An advertising campaign that debuted in 2004 features the slogan "My Harris Teeter", which is used as a jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
.
, Harris Teeter has over 18,000 employees, and is the largest supermarket chain in North Carolina (Food Lion
Food Lion
Food Lion LLC is an American grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina that operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets in 11 Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states as well as Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia under the Food Lion, Harveys Supermarket, Bloom, Bottom Dollar...
being number two).
By the mid to late 2000's, expansion to the Outer Banks
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
of North Carolina has already begun with stores in Corolla
Corolla, North Carolina
Corolla is an unincorporated community located in Poplar Branch township, Currituck County, North Carolina along the northern Outer Banks. It has a permanent population of approximately 500 people; during the summer vacation season, the population surges into the thousands...
(May 2006), Kill Devil Hills
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
Kill Devil Hills is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 5,897 at the 2000 census.Nearby Kitty Hawk is frequently cited as the location of the Wright brothers' first controlled, powered airplane flights on December 17, 1903...
(July 2006), and Morehead City (February 2009). The first store in Maryland opened in Darnestown
Darnestown, Maryland
Darnestown is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.-Geography:As an unincorporated area, Darnestown's boundaries are not officially defined...
on October 31, 2006; the second opened in May 2008 in Columbia
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
's Village of Kings Contrivance
Kings Contrivance, Columbia, Maryland
Kings Contrivance is one of the 10 villages in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, and is home to about 11,000 residents. It was first occupied in 1977. It is Columbia's southernmost village and includes a Village Center and many apartment complexes and housing developments...
, replacing the closed Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
. The first store in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
opened in 2008.
Harris Teeter continues its shift into high-income urban areas to this day; most new stores opened in Morganthall's tenure conform to this pattern. Stores such as the original Harris Super Market, located near uptown Charlotte, remain grandfathered into the current system. With Harris Teeter's further expansion into the upscale markets, many of their older stores in lower income neighborhoods or small towns are being shut down as a result. A demographic change or increased competition with stores like Wal-Mart Supercenter could be to blame for decrease in sales at these stores. One of Harris Teeter's oldest stores at Eastland Mall in Charlotte closed on June 22, 2006.
The chain's largest store and new flagship location opened in Greensboro's The Shops at Friendly Center
Friendly Center
Friendly Center is a large, open-air shopping center located in northwestern Greensboro, North Carolina, at the intersection of Wendover Avenue and Friendly Avenue. The shopping center opened in August 1957. With its unusual sector design, Friendly Center is essentially an outdoor lifestyle center....
on November 8, 2006, and it encompasses 72000 square feet (6,689 m²).
The chain's expansion into Baltimore, originally set for 2010, has been delayed due to "construction and financial problems". The store is set to open in the Locust Point neighborhood in 2011.