{"id":338964,"date":"2026-07-13T22:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338964\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:05:12","slug":"harris-teeter-reaffirms-jacksonville-store-plans-after-report-says-owner-scrapped-florida-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338964\/","title":{"rendered":"Harris Teeter reaffirms Jacksonville store plans after report says owner scrapped Florida expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Responding to a news report saying Harris Teeter had abandoned plans to build up to 80 stores across Florida, the company issued a statement July 13 saying it still planned to open a store under construction in Jacksonville but would not address other potential sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only site Harris Teeter has announced in Florida is the Atlantic North Harris Teeter in Jacksonville,\u201d the statement read. \u201cPer our standard policy, we only comment on locations where we are currently operating or have executed lease agreements. Beyond those locations, we do not comment on potential sites or real estate speculation, though we routinely evaluate opportunities that support our long-term business objectives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to serving customers in Florida through our Fernandina Beach location, and we are looking forward to opening Atlantic North Harris Teeter in Jacksonville in early 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

Harris Teeter President Tammy DeBoer said at a groundbreaking event April 24 the company is looking for expansion opportunities throughout Florida.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan Macdonald<\/p>\n

Citing unnamed real estate sources, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported July 9 that The Kroger Co., which owns Harris Teeter, had scrapped plans for expansion of Harris Teeter in Florida after announcing last week it intended to buy Pennsylvania-based supermarket chain Giant Eagle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harris Teeter announced in November 2025 it would open five stores in new markets, including in Jacksonville at the Atlantic North shopping center at northwest Atlantic and Kernan boulevards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Construction is underway at 11901 Atlantic Blvd., with the store expected to open in spring 2027 and hire 100 to 200 employees. Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises is the landlord.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sleiman Enterprises President Toney Sleiman said July 13 he was pushing forward on the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a deal and they told me to keep working on it,\u201d he said referring to a conversation he had with Harris Teeter last week.<\/p>\n

\"Sleiman<\/p>\n

Sleiman Enterprises President Toney Sleiman, right, with his son, Hunter Sleiman, at the site where Sleiman Enterprises is developing a Harris Teeter grocery store in the Atlantic North shopping center.<\/p>\n

Photo by Karen Brune Mathis<\/p>\n

In May 2026, the Daily Record reported that St. Johns County was reviewing plans for a grocery store project in St. Augustine that matched Harris Teeter\u2019s footprint and business model. That project was identified as one of three possible Harris Teeter stores in the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for other potential stores in Northeast Florida, a Harris Teeter spokesperson sent a text message that did not specify plans for those sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always evaluating opportunities that serve our long-term business objectives,\u201d said Danna Robinson, director of corporate affairs and customer relations, in the text. \u201cWe only provide comments for locations where we are currently operating or have executed a lease for a future site.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other potential Harris Teeter stores<\/p>\n

In the May 2026 story, the Daily Record said plans under review by the St. Johns County Development Review Committee showed a 50,208-square-foot grocery store with an attached liquor store, along with a fueling station that proposes eight pumps. That matches Harris Teeter\u2019s development strategy, which comprises construction of a grocery store, a liquor store and a nearby fueling center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The St. Augustine project is proposed at northeast Florida 16 and Inman Road, just east of Interstate 95 and less than 2 miles from the Elevation Pointe Publix.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A grocery store project resembling Harris Teeter is proposed at the northeast corner of Florida 16 and Inman Road, just east of Interstate 95 and less than 2 miles from the Elevation Pointe Publix.<\/p>\n

Special to the Daily Record<\/p>\n

The civil engineer for the project, Sanford-based CPH Corp., also has an unidentified grocery project planned in Poinciana in Osceola County with the same 50,208-square-foot footprint, suggesting a single retailer may be working with the firm across multiple Florida markets.<\/p>\n

Winn-Dixie Company LLC confirmed it is not involved in the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, a grocery store project that matches the Harris Teeter footprint is planned at County Road 210 and Veterans Parkway, and is moving through the preapplication phase. The location in north St. Johns County is about 3.8 miles southeast of the interchange of I-95 and U.S. 1.<\/p>\n

Plans show an 11,000-square-foot retail space adjacent to the grocery and a 5,000-square-foot retail space in the parking lot. There are four outparcels and a 1.12-acre site for a fueling station. The total square footage of the shopping center is 77,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

Harris Teeter in Fernandina Beach.<\/p>\n

Photo by J. Brooks Terry<\/p>\n

A third unnamed 61,000-square-foot store that would anchor a shopping center also is planned at County Road 16A and SilverLeaf Parkway in the SilverLeaf community in St. Johns County.<\/p>\n

In November 2025, the county\u2019s Planning and Zoning Agency voted 5-1 to recommend approval for a minor modification to the SilverLeaf planned unit development.<\/p>\n

The change would allow the grocery store, an affiliated liquor store and outparcels designed for restaurant tenants to sell alcohol within 275 feet of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Florida instead of the required 1,000 feet.<\/p>\n

The site of the SilverLeaf store has since been graded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Atlantic North site<\/p>\n

In an April 2026 interview with the Daily Record, Toney Sleiman said he had worked for three years to bring Harris Teeter back to Jacksonville, where it previously operated a store in Mandarin that closed in 2004.<\/p>\n

Sleiman said Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises develops and leases sites to most of Northeast Florida\u2019s major grocery stores, such as state industry leader Publix Super Markets Inc., and \u201cthere is a market for all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

Harris Teeter is under development between Academy Sports + Outdoors and LA Fitness in the Atlantic North shopping center in East Arlington. Harris Teeter\u2019s grocery and liquor stores, along with a smaller retail building for other tenants, will connect those two anchors.<\/p>\n

Special to the Daily Record<\/p>\n

He said he developed a retail taste for Harris Teeter after managing the North Carolina-based grocer\u2019s Fernandina Beach site, its only store in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted them here,\u201d Sleiman said.<\/p>\n

Sleiman said at the time he was working on three more locations for Harris Teeter in Florida, including in Jacksonville, but declined to identify the sites. He had no further information July 13.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic North store is under construction on vacant land between Academy Sports + Outdoors and LA Fitness. Harris Teeter\u2019s grocery and liquor stores, along with a smaller retail building for other tenants, will connect those two anchors.<\/p>\n

The liquor store is designed adjacent to the roughly 60,000-square-foot supermarket, while the fueling center is in development across Atlantic Boulevard, also on Sleiman Enterprises land.<\/p>\n

Editor at Large Karen Brune Mathis and staff writer J. Brooks Terry contributed information for this story. <\/p>\n

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