In 1966, Marsh Supermarkets made waves around the midwest when it entered the fast-growing convenience store segment. By the time the company was sold to a private equity firm forty years later, it operated 154 Village Pantries around Indiana and Ohio! Many of the oldest have been repurposed. A lot of times, I take a photo when I see one.
Anderson’s first Village Pantry stands at 2530 Raible Avenue on the southwest side of town. Designed by architect George Cox1, the 2,500-square-foot store was the company’s twenty-seventh2. It opened in 1972 and stocked 3,000 items3.
I believe Anderson’s first Village Pantry closed in 1987 after the company built a replacement at the corner of Raible and West 16th Street4. Today, the original building appears unused. I pass it most days on my lunch break.
Sources Cited
1 Marsh to Build in Southeast Muncie (1966, October 5). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 23.
2 Village Pantry opening set by Marsh firm (1972, March 28). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 2.
3 Marsh Plans New Division (1966, September 19). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 14.
4 Parcel 148-11-15-104-047.000-003 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Madison County [Anderson]. Web. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
Check out the dance studio at 10th and Rangline. I feel like it is an old VP and the doors used to have convenience store type stickers still on them.
I’ve been by there, but I’ll be sure to give it a closer look!
I used to drive past that one multiple times a week on my way to/from the Anderson Post Office farther north on Raible. I don’t think I ever noticed it!
You were a stone’s throw away from my work! Maybe you passed it on MLK. I pass the post office on my way to Taco Bell:)
I would come north on MLK from 69, then west across the tracks on 38th, then up Raible to the PO. Then the reverse back to Indianapolis.