I left out a Village Pantry when I wrote about the distinct design eras of Marsh Supermarkets’ convenience stores last week. The company built a “Spanish Mission¹” location in 1970! As far as I know, it’s the only one ever designed in that style.

The first Village Pantry opened in November 1966 at the corner of Burlington Drive and Memorial Avenue in Muncie. The concept took off! By 1970, the company operated nearly two dozen. Located at the southwestern corner of Tillotson Avenue and Bethel Pike in Muncie, the Spanish Mission store was Marsh’s twenty-third².

The unique Village Pantry design was left out of my last post because I didn’t have a clear image of the place to base my graphic on. Jeff Koenker of Lost Muncie on Facebook had a three-quarters aerial view that worked perfectly. Thanks, Jeff!

Unlike other freestanding Pantries, the Spanish Mission store was one half of a small shopping complex designed to include a coin-operated laundromat and, later, a Domino’s Pizza. The outside of the building featured four plate glass windows, a Mansard roof, and textured stucco. Tiled floors continued the theme inside³.

Ground for the new building was broken on August 18, 1970 in a ceremony attended by Muncie mayor Paul Cooley, company officials, and Charles Heckler, the grandson of the site’s former landowner⁴.

The Village Pantry side of the building was more spacious than most of its early contemporaries. The additional space made room for new items like frozen foods, an expanded dairy selection, and a deli. The laundromat side was separated from the Pantry by an air door, and both businesses could be freely accessed from the main entrance. Although the location was built before most convenience stores sold gas, motorists could buy it at Jerry Runyon’s Marathon station next door.

I haven’t been able to dig up much information about the laundromat, but the unique Village Pantry operated for thirty years⁴. I don’t remember it, but I certainly remember Family Video, which remodeled the building and opened at the site in August 2000⁴. Marco’s Pizza opened inside Family Video in 2015⁶. Four years later, the the building became a Dollar General. It remains so today.

Marsh eventually deployed several other unique Village Pantry designs that strayed from their typical layout. One in Tipton featured columns and a pediment, while another in Albany featured a hipped roof and tower! There may be more I’m unaware of, but until I find one, I’m confident in crowning the old Spanish Mission store as the strangest of them all.

Sources Cited
1 Marsh Plans New Villas Pantry (1970, August 14). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 17.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 (See footnote 1).
4 New Village Pantry Starts (1970, August 18). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 11. 
5 Family Video (2000, August 6). The Muncie Star Press. p. 43.
6 Shuey, M. (2015, August 16). Pizza & A Show: Marco’s, Family Video Team Up. The Muncie Star Press. p. A6.