Harris Teeter - Harris Teeter Today and Further Expansion

Harris Teeter Today and Further Expansion

Fred Morganthall became president of Harris Teeter upon Dunn's retirement in 1997. Morganthall has overseen further expansion of the supermarket since taking over as company president. His first initial expansions moved Harris Teeter into Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Jacksonville, Florida, which happened right after his takeover as president, through the end of the 1990s. However the moves into Atlanta and Jacksonville ended up proving unsuccessful after a few 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 and Kroger. The former Harris Teeter stores in Atlanta were bought by and some 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 1990s. However only one store remains opened serving Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach, 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 2000s, 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, 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.

As of August 2007, Harris Teeter has over 18,000 employees, and is the largest supermarket chain in North Carolina (Food Lion being number two).

By the mid to late 2000s, expansion to the Outer Banks of North Carolina has already begun with stores in Corolla (May 2006), Kill Devil Hills (July 2006), and Morehead City (February 2009). The first store in Maryland opened in Darnestown on October 31, 2006; the second opened in May 2008 in Columbia's Village of Kings Contrivance, replacing the closed Safeway. The first store in Washington, D.C., 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 on November 8, 2006, and it encompasses 72,000 square feet (6,700 m2).

The chain's expansion into Baltimore, originally set for 2010, has been delayed due to "construction and financial problems". The store opened in the Locust Point neighborhood in 2011.

The parent company currently trades on the New York Stock Exchange as Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Inc. (NYSE: HTSI, formerly Ruddick Corporation (NYSE:RDK), and had consolidated revenues of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended October 2, 2011 ("Fiscal 2011").

In June 2012, Harris Teeter announced its closure of six locations outside the Charlotte core, and its purchase of ten Lowes Foods stores in the Charlotte region. In turn, Lowes Foods would take the six Harris Teeter locations that are closing and be compensated $26.5 million. Harris Teeter cited this decision was based on focusing their stores on larger, urbanized and more upscale areas rather than rural, middle-market areas. In turn, Lowes Foods stated that their core is shifting to the western part of North Carolina, and away from Charlotte. However, industry analysts speculate that these changes are happening due to the impending expansion of Publix into the Charlotte market.

Harris Teeter will close their stores in Asheville, Hickory, Shelby, Morganton and two stores in Gastonia. Harris Teeter has been established in these markets for at least the last half-century. They will be returning to the Asheville market in 2013 with a brand new store. The newer Harris Teeter in Hendersonville, as well as the Boone and Boger City locations, will not be closing; which will retain as the only Harris Teeter stores in the western part of the Charlotte market. The Lowes Foods stores that will become Harris Teeter are three stores in Charlotte (The Promenade store will not become a Harris Teeter), and one in Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews (Stallings), Wesley Chapel and Fort Mill, South Carolina. Lowes Foods stores in Harrisburg and Mooresville will remain as such.

A new upscale grocery store, called 201central owned by Harris Teeter will open two locations in two former Charlotte Lowes Foods locations in Huntersville, North Carolina and Wesley Chapel, North Carolina. This announcement came shortly after upscale brand, Whole Foods Market opened its first Charlotte store in late summer 2012 and before Publix announced its expansion into the Charlotte region.