THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611010176
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 48 lines
Harris Teeter, an upscale supermarket with amenities such as professional chefs, a sushi station and a coffee and fresh juice bar, opened in Chesapeake Wednesday.
The store, which is located in the Greenbrier Market Shopping Center, is the second Harris Teeter store in Hampton Roads. A store opened in Virginia Beach earlier this year.
Harris Teeter is known for its wide selection of meats, produce, wine and specialty items. In addition, the store prepares freshly baked breads and pastries and prepared meals-to-go.
To meet the needs of busy customers, the chain offers bundle meals which range in price from $5.99 to $12. Bundle meals allow customers to choose already prepared entrees, three side dishes plus corn bread, bundled to go and ready to eat. Easy Meal Entrees, Harris Teeter's line of marinated, oven-ready cuts of meat and seafood, are available in the meat department.
The store has a wide selection of gourmet and international food items as well as a natural food product line which consists of approximately 1,600 items. Dietetic and no-salt items are located in the natural food department.
Other features of the store include a Caesar salad bar, prepared subs and sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, handmade pizzas, a gourmet coffee bar, an in-store cafe, a fresh juice and melon bar and a sushi station.
``The sushi bar is good for people who want to try sushi for the first time. I think they will enjoy it,'' said Steve Arnold, the store's head chef.
Arnold oversees five full-time chefs at the store, four of which are graduates of Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts. A full-time pastry chef, also a graduate of Johnson & Wales, heads the bakery department.
Susan Switzer, a full-time wine consultant, is on staff to help customers choose from the store's 1,500 imported and domestic wines.
``People tend to buy the same things, so I'm here to help them find a new favorite or try something different,'' she said.
The wine and beer department also boasts a selection of premium cigars which range in price from $4.95 to $15.39 each.
In addition to food items, the store includes an in-house floral department, a pharmacy, a full-service branch of Virginia Beach Federal Savings Bank and a dry cleaners.
Harris Teeter is open 24 hours a day and currently employs some 200 full-time and part-time associates. The company, which has its headquarters in Matthews, N.C., is a subsidiary of Ruddick Corp. Harris Teeter is ranked in the top 100 largest retailers in the United States.
The chain plans to open a store in Newport News in 1997. by CNB