As the walls go up, Harris Teeter is preparing to put up signage on its first new Duval County grocery store since 2004.
The city is reviewing permits for eight signs at the Harris Teeter under construction in the Atlantic North shopping center at 11901 Atlantic Blvd. at northwest Atlantic and Kernan boulevards in East Arlington.
Prime Sign Installation LLC of Jacksonville is the contractor for the project at a collective estimated project cost of $10,005. Plans show Casco Signs Inc. of Concord, North Carolina, also is involved.
Harris Teeter intends to put up signs for its name and logo as well as “Your Neighborhood Market,” “The Flower Shop,” “Starbucks” and its pharmacy and drive-thru. The store will have a Starbucks coffee shop within.
Harris Teeter expects to open the store in spring 2027.
Matthews, North Carolina-based Harris Teeter operates one Florida store in Fernandina Beach in Nassau County. Harris Teeter previously operated a store in Mandarin that closed in 2004 and a Ponte Vedra Beach store that closed in 2006.
The Kroger Co. bought Harris Teeter in 2014.
Harris Teeter is under development between Academy Sports + Outdoors and LA Fitness. Harris Teeter’s grocery and liquor stores, along with a smaller retail building for other tenants, will connect those two anchors.
It also is working toward a fueling center across Atlantic Boulevard.
Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises is the developer of Atlantic North and the fueling center.
In addition to the Harris Teeter that operates in Fernandina Beach and the Atlantic North store in development in Jacksonville, Harris Teeter also has been identified for, but has not confirmed, at least two sites in St. Johns County.
Plans have been filed in St. Johns County for new supermarkets that were unnamed but match the description of possible Harris Teeter stores at Veterans Parkway and County Road 210 West and at the SilverLeaf community.
Cincinnati-based Kroger announced in November 2025 that it would open five Harris Teeter stores in new markets, including Atlantic North.
In a Dec. 4 conference call with analysts, former Kroger interim CEO Ronald Sargent talked about the expansion in Northeast Florida, noting the Fernandina Beach store.
“Florida itself is a large state. It’s a growing state. We expect to do very well there,” he said.
Kroger, now led by Greg Foran since February, operates more than 2,700 stores under several brands.
“We’ll certainly fill up Jacksonville before we move to adjacent markets,” Sargent said.
While the company hasn’t operated stores south of Fernandina Beach, Kroger operated a grocery delivery service in Florida in 2021 but ended it Jan. 6.
Sleiman Enterprises President Toney Sleiman said April 24 that he had heard Harris Teeter could be working toward 20 stores in Florida in Orlando, North Florida and Tampa.
