Editing Harris Teeter (section)

===New ownership and 1980s expansion===
Harris Teeter was purchased in 1969 by The Ruddick Corporation, owned and run by the Bourgeois-Dickson Family.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harris-teeter-inc-history/|title=History of Harris Teeter Inc. – FundingUniverse|website=www.fundinguniverse.com|language=en|access-date=January 19, 2018|archive-date=January 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119235103/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harris-teeter-inc-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> The new owners introduced [[alcoholic beverages]] for sale for the first time. Harris, a devout [[Southern Baptist]], had refused to allow the sale of alcohol, even after the merger.<ref name="Purvis"/>

In 1970, the chain introduced the Big&nbsp;M discount concept to compete with Colonial Stores Big Star discount chain and [[A&P]]'s "WEO". Those stores were mainly in working-class neighborhoods, while middle and upper-class areas retained Harris Teeter. By 1976, the chain merged the two back to Harris Teeter/More Value and finally to just Harris Teeter again in 1979.

Harris Teeter's 1980 acquisition of the Hunter Farms dairy in [[High Point, North Carolina]], enabled the company to substantially reduce dairy costs. Today, all Harris Teeter-brand and Hunter Farms-brand dairy products come from the Hunter dairy. Hunter also provides dairy products to companies and organizations not associated with Harris Teeter, including convenience stores, schools, [[Lowes Foods]] private label ice creams, and the [[Wendy's]] Frosty.

In 1984, Harris Teeter purchased several [[Food World]] stores in and around [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]]. As part of the purchase, the company acquired a warehouse in the western part of Greensboro. This marked the first significant foray of the company outside its Charlotte base. Before this point, the company was a grocer in the vein of [[Piggly Wiggly]], with a mix of stores in urban and rural areas. Since 1984, Harris Teeter has focused more on higher-income urban sites. This trend continued with HT's 1988 purchase of [[Big Star Supermarkets]], giving it a foothold in the [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]-[[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]] market.

Ashcraft retired in 1986, and Edward Dunn took over as president of Harris Teeter in that year. During Dunn's watch, Harris Teeter began expansion outside North Carolina. The first expanded stores were in the northern part of South Carolina, near Charlotte. Later expansions led the company to [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina|Myrtle Beach]], [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], and the [[Hampton Roads]] region of [[Virginia]]. The "Very Important Customer" program, popularly known as VIC, was introduced later in Dunn's tenure. This program was one of the first widespread [[loyalty card]] programs now popular throughout American grocery stores. The VIC program advertised "giveaways" such as [[turkey as food|turkeys]] for [[Thanksgiving]], beach apparel for the summer, and gift cards to Harris Teeter stores.

In 1981, Harris Teeter was one of the first grocery chains to test plastic [[grocery bag]]s. In 1985 the company added child-restraint belts to [[shopping cart]]s.<ref name="Purvis" /> The chain's flagship store during the 1980s was in Charlotte's [[Cotswold (Charlotte neighborhood)|Cotswold]] neighborhood. It featured a waterfall and a fresh orange juice machine in the produce department, and for a brief period stocked fresh [[truffle]]s that were flown in from [[France]] and priced at $300 a pound.<ref name="Purvis" />
[[File:Harris Teeter Central Avenue Charlotte.jpg|thumb|This Harris Teeter in Charlotte (Store #097-00401) sits on the site of the original Harris Teeter, which was built in 1939 as Harris Supermarket and torn down in 2012 to make room for this larger store.]]