Harris Teeter to Close 4 Nashville Stores and Convert 3 to Kroger
CINCINNATI, OH - One year after Kroger Co.’s $2.5 billion acquisition of Harris Teeter, the company is now converting three of its purchased stores to Kroger while a fourth Harris Teeter closes in Nashville, Tennessee.
Danna Jones, a spokesperson for Harris Teeter, told The Tennessean that the Nashville market did not support Harris Teeter’s future business plans.
“Leaving a market is a difficult decision, but opening and closing stores is a necessary part of the retail industry," Jones said, according to the report.
While owned by the Kroger Co., Harris Teeter did maintain its brand, but has decided to close three of its Nashville stores around June 15 of this year and convert those locations to Krogers. This will not be open, however, until 2016.
"Each (remodel) will be different and those plans are being worked on as we speak,” Melissa Eads, spokesperson for Kroger, told The Tennessean. “It's just easier to get that work done when the store is closed; we can actually do that more efficiently when the stores are closed."
Another Harris Teeter Nashville location will close completely, making four closures total in the area as well as another that closed in February. According to Eads, the decision not to convert the fourth was based off of proximity to other Kroger stores in the area.
Kroger is encouraging Harris Teeter employees to apply with the company, which has openings at several locations.
"When we say apply, we don't mean they have to sit around and wait until these stores are remodeled," Eads said, according to the report. "They can certainly apply with us now and we have openings available today in most all of our stores in the Nashville area."
In the meantime, Jones clarified that these closures do not mean that the Harris Teeter brand will not continue to operate, saying, "We look forward to continuing to serve our loyal shoppers at their Harris Teeter.”
At the present time, one Kroger Nashville store is set to open January of 2016, with another to follow around Thanksgiving of the same year due to some “major” remodeling the company said would be better done while the stores were closed.
