HARRY'S PICKS GEORGIA SITE FOR BIGGEST 'HURRY' STORE

JACK ROBERTIELLO

ATLANTA -- Harry's Farmers Market here has picked a site in Cobb County, Georgia, currently occupied by an A&P supermarket, for its latest and largest Harry's in a Hurry fresh-food store.

The new store is scheduled to open in midsummer, said a company spokesman, and will fill about half of the approximately 30,000-square-foot building.

To occupy the remainder of the space, Harry's will seek a "compatible co-tenant, like maybe a party-goods store or some other entity where the traffic would be mutually beneficial," said spokesman Tony Tortorici Sr.

The new space would be nearly double the size of the original 7,000-square-foot Harry's in a Hurry.

The Cobb County neighborhood where the store is to be located commands high-traffic density from nearby apartment building residents and office workers, all perfect candidates for the Harry's in a Hurry ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat meals format, said Tortorici.

Company officials had pointed out at Harry's Farmers Market's last annual meeting that a new store opening would be arranged by Feb. 1, but completion of the recently announced multimillion-dollar development deal with an affiliate of Boston Chicken took precedence, Tortorici said. The lease-signing in Cobb County was not contingent on the Boston Chicken deal.

Major changes in the Harry's in a Hurry format as a result of the new alliance are not currently envisioned for the new store, but that may change.

"Whether or not this unit will serve as a laboratory for new concepts remains to be determined; it could very well," Tortorici said. However, he said it is more likely that specific adjustments in the concept's direction won't likely come until the end of 1997.

Harry's will staff the store with graduates from the company's management training program, which was inaugurated in January and called Hurry-Up University, Tortorici said. About 200 potential managers, some with restaurant and supermarket experience, are currently training at either a Harry's in a Hurry or a Harry's Farmers Market.

Harry's owns and operates five stores in the Atlanta area: three giant Harry's Farmers Markets specializing in fresh foods, bakery and ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat prepared meals; and two Harry's in a Hurry, which focus primarily on a range of home-meal replacement offerings.

Harry's also manufactures and distributes food products at a 28,000-square-foot facility, and bakes more than 200 items at a 55,000-square-foot bakery.