ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100034
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
MANY GROCERY CHAINS are offering fresh take-out food to satisfy people who are too busy to cook.
To understand the sheer size and amount of merchandise available at the new Harris Teeter supermarket in Blacksburg, picture that:
More than a football field's worth of shelf space is devoted to wine alone.
The deli staff - which includes two chefs - will roast 150 chickens a day for prepared rotisserie meals.
This 50,750-square-foot store, opening today in Gables Shopping Center on Main Street, is an example of the Charlotte, N.C.-based grocery chain's new stores, which are larger and more oriented toward customer service. A similar store will open later this year in Roanoke County's Cave Spring area on Route 221.
Harris Teeter stores are being built at a minimum of 40,000 square feet to accommodate more than just the typical food items, said Fred Morganthall, the chain's vice president of operations. Some of the chain's older stores contain just 15,000 square feet, but the new Blacksburg store has expanded seafood and produce sections, a candy shop, walk-in beer cooler, and a wine consultant.
Also, First Citizens Bank of Raleigh, N.C., is opening a full-service bank inside the new supermarket. It is one of the first locations the bank expects to operate in Southwest Virginia.
"What we need is a fairly large amount of space to give [customers] fully prepared food, partially prepared food and ingredients," Morganthall said.
One of the store's main thrusts, is prepared foods, a trend growing among American supermarket chains. These range from submarine sandwiches and breakfast items to chicken cordon bleu and potato pancakes, all ready to eat or reheat. Full meals, including side dishes, will be available daily with a rotating menu.
Catering and pizza delivery also are available.
According to a study by the Washington-based Food Marketing Institute, many grocery chains and supercenters such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Kmart are moving toward offering fresh take-out food to satisfy people who are too time-pressed to cook.
"If this is what consumers want, we will see a further slowdown in growth of the ... traditional dry grocery products," the Food Marketing study says.
Harris Teeter, which operates 137 stores in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee, tries to tailor each store to its individual market.
Before opening the Blacksburg store, Harris Teeter organized several focus groups to determine what types of food its potential customers wanted. The studies resulted in several food offerings, including kosher deli meats, that are not available in many other stores.
"There is a lot of diversity in Blacksburg, and you have to somehow tap in," said store manager Tim Wilson.
Harris Teeter's new store will be competing with several other grocery chains in Blacksburg, including Food Lion, Kroger and Wade's Supermarkets. A Wal-Mart supercenter, which sells groceries, also opened in Christiansburg two weeks ago.
Although company representatives from several of these chains did not address Harris Teeter specifically, they did say their stores constantly are improving their services. Recently, Food Lion and Wade's moved to 24-hour service at selected stores and Kroger has been emphasizing quick check-out service.
Wilson said Harris Teeter is not focusing on the competition. "We do our own thing; we don't really worry what the others do. We feel like service is the wave of the future."
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. The prepared foods section at the newby CNBHarris Teeter in Blacksburg will feature a deli, bakery, pizza
delivery, catering and take-out meals. The 50,750-square- foot store
opens todayin Gables Shopping Center on Main Street. color.