by Paul Szewczyk ‘12

On April 27, Harris Teeter opened its doors in Olney, now occupying the former site of the infamous Olney 9 Cinemas. Harris Teeter now shares its shopping center with ice cream parlor Baskin Robbins, Subway and the family friendly restaurant Greene Turtle, among other restaurants. Customers are attracted to this new market, and are willing to pay the very high prices for the items this store has to offer.

As the doors opened, crowds of people entered the store fighting over shopping carts, coupons and checkout aisles. Katherine Smith, mother of four, allegedly pushed three elderly ladies and a child aside to ensure her spot as one of the first people to enter the super store.

“I also really like the Cheerios they sell here. Their taste is a lot like the Cheerios I usually buy at Giant. The store’s baguette look like the baguettes I usually buy at French Confection as well, it tastes so fresh and delicious,” said Smith. “Harris Teeter is better because it’s new and they have everything I ever wanted.”

Customers aren’t the only people attracted to Harris Teeter; employees from the other four other grocery stores are attracted to Harris Teeter as well. A former Shoppers cashier and February employee of the month, Chaz Michael, is now employed at Harris Teeter. “It’s not too different from Shoppers. I get paid the same amount and work about the same number of hours, and they have my favorite brand of pizza here, Digiorno. The only true difference is that I see a lot more people here, especially employees from my last job who now work here with me. It feels a lot like my previous job at Shoppers,” said Michael.

Harris Teeter is known for its catalog of food products, which includes freshly wrapped sushi, hot subs, custom pizzas and store brand ice cream.

The Harris Teeter of Olney also features a Starbucks Coffee shop near the entrance of the store. The barista behind the counter made customer Julie Stinston a grande size vanilla latte. “This coffee is a lot like the coffee at the Starbucks across the street, or even probably the coffee offered at other stores in Olney, but there’s just something about buying it at Harris Teeter that makes it far superior to the rest of the coffee offered in the town,” said Stinson.

The prices of the store do not scare away customers from this brand new supermarket. James Allen, recently divorced father of six, is an avid grocery shopper. Giant used to be Allen’s super market of choice, but Allen has moved on to Harris Teeter since its grand opening a month ago. In his recent visit to the store, Allen bought two twelve packs of Coca-Cola, a white pizza with pepperoni, a scrumptious chicken Ceasar salad, six pieces of California roll and a half gallon of plain vanilla ice cream. The price of his bill came out to be 84 dollars and 74 cents, plus taxes added on at the end as well. 

“Harris Teeter would actually have all the food that I want. I would expect them to have the pizza I want, the flavor of sushi I want, and the plain vanilla ice cream I have always enjoyed and loved. Its food selection is clearly superior to both Giant and Shoppers,” said Allen.

Now with Safeway under reconstruction, Harris Teeter seems to be strengthening its hold on local supermarkets and on the suburbanites of Olney as well.