
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 21, 1995                   TAG: 9504210111
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONFUSED ABOUT WINES? HARRIS TEETER HIRES HELPER

Just past the bakery and floral stand of the Harris Teeter supermarket at Towers Shopping Center, where shoppers would expect to pick up the weekly loaf of bread, they're likely to encounter a new kind of store employee.

He's there to answer questions about an item that may not be found on every grocery list.

Gordon Kendall, who was recently hired as the store's full-time wine consultant, is ready to suggest what to serve with tonight's chicken or how to read a wine label.

Harris Teeter, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Ruddick Corp., has a reputation for operating upscale stores. Now, the chain is trying to take advantage of changes in purchasing habits of its best customers.

For the past two to three years, Harris Teeter has been putting wine consultants in some of its stores in North Carolina cities and Atlanta, said company spokeswoman Ruth Kinzey. Twenty-two full-time wine consultants now work for the company.

The Harris Teeter at Towers is the company's first store in Virginia with a wine consultant.

Upscaling in supermarkets is a fairly new trend, at least in this area. Hiring wine consultants and upscaling wine selections is something that began on the West Coast in stores such as Safeway of Oakland, Calif., said Richard Turcsik, a writer for the trade publication Supermarket News.

Harris Teeter's attention to its wine selection is an example of how supermarkets are taking advantage of an increase in U.S. wine sales, Powers said.

Although Americans' wine consumption has increased very little, they are buying better wine, according to the Supermarket News.

"People are becoming more interested in wines and wanting to try different things," Kendall said.

But Kendall said he doesn't want to cater only to the upper class.

"I think a lot of people are too snooty about wine," Kendall said. "I try to bring it down to a personal level. All wine is, is fermented grape juice."

In addition to adding a wine consultant, Kendall said the Towers store will expand its wine selection. About 150 linear feet of shelf space will be added with approximately 100 additional kinds of wine, said the store's manager, Gary Powers. The store hopes to complete expansion within four to six weeks.

"The top people in the corporation are very serious about making this the place to buy wine," Kendall said.

by CNB