While Harris-Teeter Supermarket is committed to center city markets, they haven't refigured their promotions to accommodate sustainable mobility

Harris-Teeter Supermarket is a chain based in North Carolina, but over the past 15 years they've aggressively moved into the Mid-Atlantic market, with stores in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.

Many of their stores are in mixed use developments, may incorporate two stories so a smaller overall footprint, and during a period when Giant was quiescent concerning the city and Safeway was beginning to revive and improve their urban stores, alongside Whole Foods they've aggressively built stores in DC proper, with four stores--plans for more (such as in Brookland and at the DC-Montgomery County border) were scuttled by resident opposition to the developments that would have incorporated their store, but the firm is likely to open more stores in the city.

Stores like the one at 1st and M Streets NE or in Kalorama have a preponderance of customers arriving on foot or bicycle.

But other than price, the firm's major loyalty promotion involves earning points towards discounts on gasoline.


Granted, Safeway and Giant do the same thing, as do supermarket firms across the US.  I shouldn't be harder on H-T, but they are more aggressive in marketing this promotion using in-store items like this one, shelf tags, etc., along with regular promotion in their weekly newspaper inserts.

But it would be nice to see them figure out some form of discount promotion that promotes sustainable mobility.

Even "merely" taking people home if they arrived on foot and they purchase a minimum amount.

That's what the Latino-oriented supermarket firm Megamart does.  (And what I have recommended that Eastern Market do for the 12 years I've been on its "community advisory committee.")

The livery on this Megamart vehicle says "Le Llevamos a su casa gratis" -- "we take you home for free."

Although I have been seeing more people using cargo bikes at the Harris-Teeter store at 1st and M Streets NE in NoMA.


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Note: a comparable complaint I have is that library activists clamor for free parking, but fail to recognize that they then should be advocating for free transit to and from the library as well.