After 9 years, Harris Teeter is finally opening on Lady’s Island. Here are the details
Harris Teeter Supermarkets LLC, the North Carolina-based grocery store chain, first proposed a new store on Lady’s Island in 2015. But after years without any noticeable activity at busy intersection of Sams Point Road/Lady’s Island Drive and Sea Island Parkway, residents began to wonder whether it would ever get built. But construction kicked into high gear last summer, nine years after the first plans were filed. And Harris Teeter confirmed Wednesday, that the new Lady’s Island store will open its doors to the public on Tuesday, June 25, following a 4 p.m. grand opening.
“We can’t wait to welcome the Lady’s Island community to their new neighborhood market,” Danna Robinson, Harris Teeter’s director of corporate affairs, said in a news release.
Located at 163 Sea Island Parkway, the store will butt heads with Publix, which is located across the intersection, as well as a nearby Food Lion and Walmart.
Here’s what the public can expect to find at the long-awaited Harris Teeter:
▪ Store-made pizza, subs, sushi, and an Asian & American hot foods bar.
▪ Full-service Starbucks and a craft wine and beer bar, both with indoor seating.
▪ Expanded meat and seafood departments featuring store-made burgers, sausage, kabobs, and lobster rolls.
▪ Expanded organic and specialty produce, fresh-cut fruit, and a soup and salad bar.
▪ A drive-through pick-up for online grocery orders and a pharmacy. Through Aug. 31, VIC Card customers who transfer a pharmacy prescription will receive a $25 reward.
▪ Harris Teeter Fuel Center, which will offer several specials in celebration of the grand opening:
The 60-year-old Matthews, N.C.-based Harris Teeter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co. with more than 250 stores and 70 fuel centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida and the District of Columbia. The Lady’s Island store is the third in Beaufort County, with the other two located on Hilton Head Island.
Plans for a Harris Teeter store were first submitted to the city in 2015. Signs that announced the store’s pending arrival were removed in 2022 prompting speculation that the project had been scrapped. But Harris Teeter told the city that the removal was a mistake and that supply chain challenges and general construction delays had slowed down the project. Some wondered whether behind-the-scenes discussions about building a Kroger versus a Harris Teeter also led to delays.
The Harris Teeter site had been the location of a Publix, but Publix moved across the intersection in 2014 to build a bigger store. After that, the land remained vacant with no activity until June 2023 when the city of Beaufort issued final building permits for the Harris Teeter grocery and fuel center. The city approved the plans in 2021.
Grand opening and hours
A 4 p.m. grand opening and ribbon cutting is planned Tuesday, June 25 followed by complimentary food and beverage samples and live music. The registers will be open at the grocery store.
Beginning Wednesday, June 26, regular store hours will be 6 a.m.-11 p.m.
