THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030462
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Harris Teeter, a Matthews, N.C.-based grocery chain, plans to build two stores in Hampton Roads next winter. The stores will be the chain's first entry into the southeastern Virginia market.
The chain plans to break ground on a Virginia Beach store in January, followed by ground-breaking on a Newport News store in February. The company hasn't disclosed street locations for the stores.
``Harris Teeter is more upscale than anything in Tidewater,'' said Ken Gassman, a retail analyst with Davenport & Co. in Richmond. A division of the Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp., Harris Teeter has a reputation for wide selections of food and beverage.
``They're a good operator,'' said Mike Mozingo, spokesman for Food Lion Inc. in Salisbury, N.C. ``They have been expanding into other urban areas.''
Harris Teeter operates 141 stores in the Southeast from Atlanta to the Carolinas. About 40 are open 24 hours a day.
Harris Teeter hopes to fill a void in Hampton Roads by becoming the area's only large, upscale supermarket. Tidewater has a high percentage of blue-collar residents who shop on price alone.
``Harris Teeter is going to appeal to a different set of consumers,'' Gassman said.
Its grocery stores will be about 50,000 square feet in size and will feature the chain's ``chef program'' - large deli, bakery and meat sections offering prepared foods and entrees. Harris Teeter also offers private labels like its ``presidential'' line of foodstuffs. Customer service and shopping ambiance also rate highly with the food chain.
Executives at Farm Fresh, the Norfolk-based food store chain, said they do not view the North Carolina food chain as a threat.
``It's our opinion at Farm Fresh that the market is already well-served,'' said Keith Alessi, chief financial officer. ``A couple of stores will not be a major disruption. We will vigorously compete with them.''
According to Food World, a trade publication, Farm Fresh holds 36.5 percent of the market. Food Lion follows closely with a 32 percent market share. Alessi estimated that 15 percent of the food market is dominated by the U.S. government, which offers food through its military commissaries. by CNB