Harris Teeter has launched home grocery delivery in the D.C. metro, and it promises the ice cream won’t arrive melted.
The Matthews, North Carolina-based grocery chain, owned by Kroger, said fulfillment and deliveries are handled by Harris Teeter employees. Groceries are packed onto its refrigerated, red delivery trucks, with frozen items packed in dry ice until they reach the customer.
It is part of what Harris Teeter calls its commitment to never breaking the cold chain.
“[This] ensures delivery matches the experience of shopping in-person,” said Bill Rhyne, senior director of operations support at Harris Teeter. “With our state-of-the-art delivery trucks, every item remains at the proper temperature throughout the delivery. Your ice cream always arrives frozen.”
Customers can get 30 days of free delivery and double Harris Teeter fuel points, as well as grocery item discounts, with a free trial of its HT Plus membership.
Harris Teeter has about two-dozen stores in the D.C. area.
Ten of its stores are being sold by Kroger to Keene, New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, which owns the Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union supermarket chains. Kroger is selling the stores as part of a larger divestiture of stores by Kroger and Albertsons, in order to win regulatory approval of their planned $24.6 billion merger.
Harris Teeter, called “Teet” by its loyal followers, dates back to the Great Depression, when two entrepreneurs — William Thomas Harris and Willis Teeter — merged their stores in Charlotte. It currently has about 260 stores in seven states.
