Harris Teeter competitor Publix may have opened in South End two years ago, but the retro logo adorning the new Harris Teeter on South Boulevard, just half a mile away from its rival, sends a clear message: “We were this neighborhood’s original grocery store.”
Part of the Sedgefield shopping center redevelopment, the new 53,000 square-foot Harris Teeter opens June 20, the grocer said on Wednesday.
The new store’s logo and overall look are a nod to its past: The original location at 2707 South Blvd. opened Sept. 1, 1952, as a Harris Food Store, spokeswoman Lea Ramsey said. When Harris Super Markets and Teeter Food Mart merged in 1960, the store became a Harris Teeter. It remained Harris Teeter until the location closed in 1988, Ramsey said.
The original store was 15,240 square feet – less than a third the size of the new store – and was described in a 1952 Observer story as “the largest self-service food center in North Carolina, and one of the largest in the South.”
“We are extremely excited to be back in the Sedgefield neighborhood with our brand new Harris Teeter, especially on the same exact block where the building stood nearly 30 years ago,” the grocer said in a statement. “As a Charlotte-born brand, we love any opportunity to bring back the nostalgia our 1960s customers feel when thinking of our brand which is why we have incorporated one of our original logos on the exterior of the building.”
Among other features typical of a Harris Teeter, the new South Boulevard location will have a Starbucks coffee stand, a bar with wine and 16 beers on tap, filling stations for beer growlers, an events area that will feature weekly meal specials, a pharmacy and a sit-down eating area.
Ahead of the opening, the new South End store is hiring. Those interested can learn more on the grocer’s website.
The new store will be open daily from 6 a.m.-midnight. On the first day, Harris Teeter opens at 5 p.m. and will have a free-to-the-public sampling event after the initial ribbon-cutting.
Harris Teeter, based in Matthews but owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger, is the largest grocery chain in the Charlotte metro area by market share, according to Chain Store Guide, a sales-tracking guide. Florida-based Publix, which entered the local market in 2014, has been muscling in on Harris Teeter’s territory over the years, even building new stores less than a mile from nearby Harris Teeters.
Besides the new Harris Teeter, the $190 million mixed-use redevelopment of the Sedgefield complex includes 14,000 square feet of retail space, and later, 300 apartment units. The only tenant that has been confirmed at the new shopping center is Holler & Dash, a biscuit house.
BY KATHERINE PERALTA
