Harris Teeter interior
Harris Teeter #461 (25,600 square feet)
179 West Ocean View Avenue, Ocean View Shopping Center, Norfolk, VA
Opened May 15th, 2019; originally Big Star (1978-spring 1982), later Giant Open Air (summer 1982-May 1987), Farm Fresh (May 1987-April 2018)
Harris Teeter's seventh location in a former Farm Fresh is now open. This is great for the beach community it's in, since the area had been designated a food desert after Farm Fresh's departure (the nearest supermarkets are all about 10-15 minutes away by car on E Little Creek Road). It's another very nice looking location with the same décor and all, but boy is it tiny inside! Especially compared to the other six stores they opened, which are between 38,000-58,000 square feet. The space is pretty cramped, especially when you take a look down the aisles, and it completely lacks a pharmacy/health & beauty department, which isn't a big deal since Rite Aid has a location in the shopping center. Kudos to Harris Teeter for opening in this space anyways for the sake of deprived Ocean View residents. It just might be their smallest store in the US!
So what's up next? You may recall me mentioning a Chesapeake location they bought (1400 Kempsville Road), which would be their final Farm Fresh opening. However, I'm beginning to doubt that they're gonna operate out of that space. The store isn't listed on their website, and I initially failed to realize that they already have a location two miles away in Greenbrier Marketcenter. They could always be planning to close that older location à la the store in Suffolk, but no such announcement has been made. The only way to find out if anything has been done to the old Farm Fresh building is for me to drive by it, which I plan on doing soon during my next Chesapeake trip. (EDIT 5-21-19: I drove by this location this morning and Harris Teeter is opening. The signs are up on the building and the interior looks finished, just needs to be stocked. The store is also now listed on Harris Teeter's website, but no opening date has been announced yet.)
Side story: this store is located near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, whose westbound lanes were blocked in the morning due to a huge crash. I had planned on hitting up this store shortly after the 8AM ribbon cutting before I drove to Virginia Beach, but the crash had occurred during my commute there and I had to take the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel instead so I didn't get stuck in any traffic! What a frustrating mess that was. I didn't end up going here until five something in the afternoon.
Harris Teeter interior
Harris Teeter #461 (25,600 square feet)
179 West Ocean View Avenue, Ocean View Shopping Center, Norfolk, VA
Opened May 15th, 2019; originally Big Star (1978-spring 1982), later Giant Open Air (summer 1982-May 1987), Farm Fresh (May 1987-April 2018)
Harris Teeter's seventh location in a former Farm Fresh is now open. This is great for the beach community it's in, since the area had been designated a food desert after Farm Fresh's departure (the nearest supermarkets are all about 10-15 minutes away by car on E Little Creek Road). It's another very nice looking location with the same décor and all, but boy is it tiny inside! Especially compared to the other six stores they opened, which are between 38,000-58,000 square feet. The space is pretty cramped, especially when you take a look down the aisles, and it completely lacks a pharmacy/health & beauty department, which isn't a big deal since Rite Aid has a location in the shopping center. Kudos to Harris Teeter for opening in this space anyways for the sake of deprived Ocean View residents. It just might be their smallest store in the US!
So what's up next? You may recall me mentioning a Chesapeake location they bought (1400 Kempsville Road), which would be their final Farm Fresh opening. However, I'm beginning to doubt that they're gonna operate out of that space. The store isn't listed on their website, and I initially failed to realize that they already have a location two miles away in Greenbrier Marketcenter. They could always be planning to close that older location à la the store in Suffolk, but no such announcement has been made. The only way to find out if anything has been done to the old Farm Fresh building is for me to drive by it, which I plan on doing soon during my next Chesapeake trip. (EDIT 5-21-19: I drove by this location this morning and Harris Teeter is opening. The signs are up on the building and the interior looks finished, just needs to be stocked. The store is also now listed on Harris Teeter's website, but no opening date has been announced yet.)
Side story: this store is located near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, whose westbound lanes were blocked in the morning due to a huge crash. I had planned on hitting up this store shortly after the 8AM ribbon cutting before I drove to Virginia Beach, but the crash had occurred during my commute there and I had to take the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel instead so I didn't get stuck in any traffic! What a frustrating mess that was. I didn't end up going here until five something in the afternoon.