Members of the Dunkirk Harris Teeter staff were ready to get to work opening day, Aug. 22.
Dunkirk, MD – For the second time this year, Southern Marylanders got to party with Harry the Happy Dragon at a supermarket opening. The Harris Teeter store in the Shoppes at Apple Greene in Dunkirk officially opened Wednesday, Aug. 22. Hundreds were lined up outside the store at 8 a.m. as the opening day ceremonies were held. While the Dunkirk store is not quite as large as the California location which opened earlier this year, it does have an outdoor ancillary service—a “fuel center” located just south of the store.
“This is extremely exciting,” said store manager Sean Hall. “We are extremely proud to be in this community. Harris Teeter has very strong ties in the community.” Hall, who had been part of the management opening the California store, currently resides in St. Mary’s County. He told the officials and customers gathered outside the store that “Team 270” was ready to serve shoppers. The store will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. The fuel center will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 24 hours at the pump.
“I thought I was going to be standing in line for a rock concert,” declared Calvert County Commissioner Pat Nutter, expressing how impressed he was with the size of the opening day turnout. Nutter stated he had a personal reason for being glad the store was now open for business. “My grandson got a job here,” he said.
Echo Realty’s Drew Gorman spoke about the “long journey” developers had in getting Shoppes at Apple Greene off the drawing board to the point of real bricks and mortar. For years, the project languished due to a lack of an anchor store. Convincing Harris Teeter to locate in Dunkirk gave the project tremendous momentum.
Subsequently, other popular franchises like Marshalls, Five Guys, Taco Bell, Mod Pizza, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services fell in line.
Gorman estimated the effort took around 10 years. He thanked the Calvert Board of County Commissioners, the Department of Economic Development and Marrick Properties, which “handled the heavy entitlement work.”
Observing the line out the door, Gorman added, “it looks like you’ve got two days of customers waiting in line.”
According to a Harris Teeter press release, the Dunkirk store is 50,302 square-feet and has 10 checkouts and six express checkouts. Other features include express lane online shopping and a drive-thru pharmacy.
“Harris Teeter is thrilled to be joining the Dunkirk community,” company spokeswoman Danna Robinson stated. “We look forward to getting to know our new neighbors and we cannot wait for shoppers to see their brand-new Harris Teeter store and fuel center.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
