St. Johns County is likely getting a pair of new supermarkets — and they’re not what you think.
Publix and Winn-Dixie, the area’s predominant brands, are unaffiliated with the two applications to open local stores, according to county records obtained by The Citizen.
The footprints of the proposed projects match those of Harris Teeter, a supermarket operator owned by Kroger’s, Jacksonville Daily Record noted.
The applicant wants to open 61,000 square foot stores at Veterans Parkway and County Road 210 West and in a SilverLeaf shopping center.
The chain currently has a location in Fernandina Beach and has announced plans to expand in the Jacksonville area.
The brand was founded by William Thomas Harris and Willis L. Teeter, two North Carolina entrepreneurs who founded separate businesses during the Great Depression.
Harris opened a drugstore and Teeter opened Teeters Food Mart, and the two men ultimately merged their ventures.
The brand expanded over the decades and underwent several ownership changes.
Kroger’s bought out Harris Teeter for $2.4 billion in cash in 2014.
The company currently employs 35,000 staffers and runs roughly 260 stores in several states.
