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Harris Teeter Parent Company Accuses Lidl Of Trademark Infringement

Photo credit: Wikimedia contributor Onderwijskek for Creative Commons http://bit.ly/2tUzXko

A supermarket war has broken out in North Carolina. Harris Teeter's parent company is suing newcomer Lidl for trademark infringement.

Kroger, the Cincinnati-based grocer that owns Harris Teeter, is suing Lidl over dueling brand names. This comes just two weeks after the German-based Lidl opened its first stores in North Carolina.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the complaint claims that Lidl's house brand, “Preferred Selection,” bears too close a resemblance to Kroger's “Private Selection” brand. Kroger says Lidl is intentionally misleading its customers into believing there is a relationship between the two companies. 

A Lidl spokesperson said the company can't comment on pending litigation.

Lidl opened its first U.S stores in the Carolinas and Virginia this summer, with plans to have 100 stores open across the East Coast in the next year.

The company is building a regional headquarters in Alamance County.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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