<p>Harris Teeter parent corporation Ruddick Corp. just released their third quarter fiscal results, which showed that the grocery chain’s sales were up an impressive 8.1% from last years. Harris Teeter stores saw sales of $1.10 billion, as opposed to 2010’s $1.02 billion. Sales for the entire 39-week period that ended on July 3rd were also up- 6.4% more than the equivalent period last year. The company attributed both increases to increases in comparable store sales and a one week shift in the fiscal year which enabled them to include their July 4th holiday sales in the report as well as their Easter holiday sales, which were not included in the 2010 report.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Harris Teeter has opened six new stores this year and has closed one, leaving them with a total of 204 stores at the end of the third quarter. The company’s operating profit for the quarter increased by 17.5% to $50.7 million (4.60% of sales) from $43.1 million (4.23% of sales) in the third quarter of fiscal 2010. This profit was impacted by new store pre-opening costs of $1.5 million (0.14% of sales) and $1.8 million (0.18% of sales) in the third quarters of fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010, respectively. The profits were primarily a result of increased store sales and heightened cost controls. The LIFO charge this year meant that the gross profit margin for Harris Teeter decreased.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Read the corporation’s full analysis at http://www.ruddickcorp.com.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
