THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150427
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Edward S. Dunn Jr., president of supermarket chain Harris Teeter Inc., acknowledges that the fight for Hampton Roads grocery shoppers will be tough. But he says his company has the key to taking its fair share of the market.
``We believe our formula will work here,'' said Dunn, who spoke Thursday to the Hampton Roads 5% Club, a group of leaders from the region's business community.
Dunn said the Matthews, N.C.-based chain is trying to improve its internal performance and address customers' needs.
The first steps are ensuring that employees are adequately trained, involved in company decisions and duly compensated. Harris Teeter, owned by Charlotte, N.C.-based Ruddick Corp., offers employees stock in the company and tuition assistance.
``We can't be an incredible place to shop unless we are an incredible place to work,'' Dunn told the business group at a luncheon at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott and Convention Center.
The company also is largely decentralized, he said. Store managers are expected to make supermarkets their own, tailoring them to their communities. For example, shoppers may find that a store in western North Carolina looks strikingly different than an outlet in Raleigh, N.C.
``We think that is a key to our success,'' Dunn said.
Harris Teeter offers such amenities as 24-hour cappuccino bars, Caesar salad bars, delicate pastries and ready-to-eat meals. But it doesn't feign to have the lowest prices in town.
``We sell value, not price,'' said Dunn. ``While we aren't the cheapest, we consistently get high marks for value.''
Harris Teeter, which plans to open several grocery stores in the region beginning in summer, will compete with Norfolk-based Farm Fresh Inc., Maine's Hannaford Brothers Co. and North Carolina's Food Lion Inc., among others.
The company's first stores will open in a shopping center at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Little Neck Road in Virginia Beach, the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake and Newport News. by CNB