Harris Teeter 2000 Annual Report Download - page 12

7
96 97 98 99 00
35.6
12.3
28.9
15.4
20.2
16.6
15.6
17.3
19.8
18.6
American & Efird
In Millions of Dollars
■Capital Expenditures
■Depreciation/Amortization
Each year our subsidiaries strive to report improvements in
operating productivity, whether small or large, even in years like
fiscal 2000, when slow sales growth can make this expansion more
difficult to achieve. Despite somewhat lower sales at A&E and
weaker than expected comparable store sales at Harris Teeter, both
companies saw improvement.
Harris Teeter: Improved Efficiency
Despite record low levels of unemployment in the South-
east, Harris Teeter made significant strides in reducing our levels
of employee turnover, a high cost in the supermarket business.
We are measuring both employee turnover and retention levels.
And even though labor rates increased this year due to this tight
labor market, Harris Teeter was able to offset a portion of this by
implementing engineered labor standards in more departments.
Administrative and management reorganizations at the store and
department level also helped to continually rationalize the size of
the labor force, as did the outsourcing of some food production
activities traditionally carried out at the store level.The designation
of model stores visited weekly in each region also helped man-
agement better understand and implement desired best operating
practices. New Internet-based communication systems reduced the
time and paper necessary to deliver daily information to the stores.
As a result of these and other process improvements within the
company, sales per employee hour increased by nearly 7%.
Streamlining the Process
Late in fiscal 2000, Harris Teeter completed the installation
of a single pick facility for health and beauty care products and
other general merchandise in our Greensboro, North Carolina
warehouse. The creation of this facility will now allow us to buy
these items directly from manufacturers, as opposed to distributors
who add another level of complexity, time and cost to the process,
and to service all our own stores.At the same time, Harris Teeter is
focused on the improvement of inventory management overall in a
continuing effort to more aggressively control company-wide
waste. Best practices for ordering, loss prevention and inventory
96 97 98 99 00
83.2
37.6
86.2
42.5
75.1
48.6
77.5
52.2
99.0
57.0
Harris Teeter
In Millions of Dollars
■Capital Expenditures
■Depreciation/Amortization
Customers are enthusiastic about Harris Teeter’s new
self-checkout stations because they give shoppers
more control over the time they spend in the checkout
line. And with only one cashier necessary to assist
customers at four stations, self-checkout also allows
Harris Teeter to better control costs.