the Teeters had become a household name. Lines of eager shoppers wrapped around the new store in anticipation of being one of the first customers in Teeters' second location. The Teeters' success continued to grow and by 1957 their third store opened in Newton, North Carolina, a fourth in Cornelius, a fifth in Hickory, and a sixth opened in Morganton, North Carolina, in November 1958. After opening his sixth store Teeter joined the NC Food Dealers Association. At one of the Food Dealers meetings, Teeter met Harris. The two men decided that working together would increase the financial strength of the two supermarkets, allow them to grow more rapidly, and decrease operating costs. W. L. Teeter and W. T. Harris agreed to merge and did so in November 1959 to become Harris Teeter Supermarkets. The merger of 15 stores collectively became official in February 1960. The new company became the largest independent grocery organization in the Carolinas. New ownership and 1980s expansion Harris Teeter was purchased in 1969 by The Ruddick Corporation, owned and run by the Bourgeois-Dickson Family. The new owners introduced alcoholic beverages for sale for the first time. Harris, a devout Southern Baptist, had refused to allow the sale of alcohol, even after the merger. In 1970, the chain introduced the Big M discount concept to compete with Colonial Stores Big Star discount chain and A&P's "WEO". Those stores were mainly in working-class neighborhoods, while middle and upper-class areas retained Harris Teeter. By 1976, the chain merged the two back to Harris Teeter/More Value and finally to just Harris Teeter again in 1979. Harris Teeter's 1980 acquisition of the Hunter Farms dairy in High Point, North Carolina, enabled the company to substantially reduce dairy costs. Today, all Harris Teeter-brand and Hunter Farms-brand dairy products come from the Hunter dairy. Hunter also provides dairy products to companies and organizations not associated with Harris Teeter, including convenience stores, schools, Lowes Foods private label ice creams, and the Wendy's Frosty. In 1984, Harris Teeter purchased several Food World stores in and around Greensboro. As part of the purchase, the company acquired a warehouse in the western part of Greensboro. This marked the first significant foray of the company outside its Charlotte base. Before this point, the company was a grocer in the vein of Piggly Wiggly, with a mix of stores in urban and rural areas. Since 1984, Harris Teeter