Harris Teeter/Big M

Post by **Groceteria** » 05 Feb 2006 14:47

In 1970, Harris Teeter stores in Charlotte NC rebranded many of its units as Big M stores. This was a discount brand, an answer to Colonial's Big Star stores and A&P's A-Marts. Does anyone have a date on when these stores were reunited with the rest of the chain? I know it was sometime between 1975 and 1980.

While I'm at it, does anyone have a logo for Big M?

Thanks...

danielh_512 · Post by **danielh_512** » 07 Feb 2006 03:06

Wasn't there also a More-Value discount store chain connected to H-T?

Post by **Groceteria** » 07 Feb 2006 10:35

danielh_512 wrote:Wasn't there also a More-Value discount store chain connected to H-T?

You see, that name rings a bell for me too and is something I remember from the commercials where the two names were reunited. In fact, I think I remember the "more value" being part of the Harris Teeter logo.

I'm wondering if maybe (a) they changed the name of the Big M stores near the end and I'm just not seeing it in the city directories because I do five-year intervals, or (b) maybe the "more value" part was a marketing term they used for the combined entity for a while.

Aristan · Post by **Aristan** » 07 Feb 2006 23:15

More Value was (and is) a HT Store Brand, usually budget items. It serves as the budget verison to the actual HT brand, much like Highland Crest serves as the budget version of Hunter Farms.

The logo for More Value has always been (at least to my knowledge), the current Harris Teeter Logo, without other HT marks, rendered in red.

They used to, at least when I worked there in the 90's, have yellow packaging.

HT also had a third tier of store brands, when they carried the President's Choice line in the 90's. They've since replaced that with Premier Selections.

Post by **Groceteria** » 08 Feb 2006 11:56

Aristan wrote:The logo for More Value has always been (at least to my knowledge), the current Harris Teeter Logo, without other HT marks, rendered in red.

They used to, at least when I worked there in the 90's, have yellow packaging.

But the logo in the 1970s was different from the current version (you still see it on the occasional unremodeled store like Eastland Mall in Charlotte) and I'm almost certain I remember a "More Value" add-on, maybe even featuring a big "m" to the right of the "Harris Teeter", as part of the official logo back then.

I pretty specifically remember this having something to do with the merging of these two store names. It may later have become nothing more than a house brand, but I think there was more to it than that circa 1976.

It could be that the "Big M" name used on some stores in the 1970s merely stood for "More Value". That would make sense and would mesh with its eventual use as a house brand as well.

terryinokc · Post by **terryinokc** » 08 Feb 2006 14:04

The house brand items from the late 80's or early 90's that were the second tier were called Harris Teeter Mor- (or More?) Value. I have a couple of items from this era that are called this. The logo was in red lettering, and a different look than today's Harris Teeter logo.

Used to travel that way a lot in previous years, but can't help you with the stores called More Value. The only stores I visited were just regular Harris Teeters---several of those were in Augusta, Georgia in the 1978-1979 era. They have been gone from Augusta for many years.

danielh_512 · Post by **danielh_512** » 09 Feb 2006 00:30

The H-T logo changed sometime about 1996-1997 I think.

I know the last time I was in NC in 1994, it was the old logo still. When I'd meet H-T again in Northern VA in 2003, they had this new logo. Research indicates about 1996-97 though.

Aristan · Post by **Aristan** » 09 Feb 2006 03:17

Groceteria wrote: But the logo in the 1970s was different from the current version (you still see it on the occasional unremodeled store like Eastland Mall in Charlotte) and I'm almost certain I remember a "More Value" add-on, maybe even featuring a big "m" to the right of the "Harris Teeter", as part of the official logo back then.

The logo seems to change every time the HT logo changes. From way back when, I remember it being a slice of bread done in red, with More Value (acutally I think Terry is right, it was Mor-Value at one time) written inside of it instead of HT. The new logo is similar, the Harris-Teeter 'loaves & fishes' in red, with More Value written under it instead of the standard Harris-Teeter.

Groceteria wrote:I pretty specifically remember this having something to do with the merging of these two store names. It may later have become nothing more than a house brand, but I think there was more to it than that circa 1976.

It could be that the "Big M" name used on some stores in the 1970s merely stood for "More Value". That would make sense and would mesh with its eventual use as a house brand as well.

Could Highland Crest have originally been Big M's house brand as well? Could explain why HT seems to have two (or more) house brands for just about everything.

Post by **Groceteria** » 10 Feb 2006 21:37

Aristan wrote: From way back when, I remember it being a slice of bread done in red, with More Value (acutally I think Terry is right, it was Mor-Value at one time) written inside of it instead of HT.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I'm remembering the Harris-Teeter name spelled out (in the font used for the logo version just prior to the current one) but the bread-shaped "More Value" thing in a different color directly to the right of the Harris-Teeter name.

H2oSPRT · Post by **H2oSPRT** » 20 Feb 2006 22:08

"BIG M" was a rebranding of some of oldest H-T stores in borderline neighborhoods and a response to Big Star (Colonial) and A-Mart (A&P). The BIG M stores were pretty disgusting; the re-branding enabled H-T to milk some profits out of the locations w/o having to invest in quality remodeling.

The logo was a white rectangle w/ an oval centered. Inside the oval was a giant modified Roman "M"; above the "M" was "BIG" and below "MART". The oval and letting was in medium blue.

In in late 1976, H-T made the decision to consolidate brands and ad costs back to a single format. The result was the Harris-Teeter/M logo and signage. The logo was rectangle; 3/4 of it (to the left) was red w/ white "Harris-Teeter" stylized lettering. The balance of the logo (to the right) was blue w/ white lettering "More Value" and then, a large "M". This was a clever way to end 2 separate weekly ads/formats and to let the low price image of Big M convey to Harris-Teeter. Charlotte home economist icon Betty Feezor was the spokeswoman for the "merged" formats until her death in 1978.

Post by **Groceteria** » 28 Feb 2006 12:45

Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

Blair Bradford · Post by **Blair Bradford** » 27 Mar 2006 00:20

When Harris Teeter was beginning the branding of Big M, Ty Boyd and Betty Feezor did joint commercials with Ty adversiting for HT and Betty doing the same for Big M.