In 1966, Marsh Supermarkets made waves in Indiana 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. I try to take a photo when I drive past one.
Yorktown’s old Village Pantry opened in 1985 at 9021 W. Smith Street to replace one of the company’s earliest stores at 8920 Adaline, now home to the Yorktown Public Library. Opened in 1985, the 3,000-square-foot1 store was the second in the chain to feature booths for sit-down eating separated from the rest of the sales floor.
Compared to its predecessor, the Village Pantry featured an upgraded deli; sandwiches, soup, and doughnuts; and two gasoline “islands2.” The upgraded Yorktown Village Pantry was part of a design Marsh called “Big Orange” due to its prevailing color scheme3. Beyond their bright colors, the stores featured a squared-off layout, concrete block walls, and an outward-swooping awning that’s immediately identifiable.
The Yorktown Village Pantry closed sometime between 2009 2013 as best I can remember. Its staff made the best Hunt Bros. Pizza when it was the Yorktown Food Mart! Today, it’s a BP. I’ve not been inside in years.
Sources Cited
1 Parcel 18-10-22-179-001.000-017 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Delaware County [Mucie]. Web. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
2 Wilcox, S.E. (1985, January 10). Marsh replacing two Village Pantry stores. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 35.
3 Wilcox, S.E. (1984, March 16). Marsh may build new Pantry store to fit historic neighborhood. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 19.
The Adaline store was a Bonett Drug store which later became a Rite-aid Drugs store. Then it became the library.
I haven’t gotten a decent picture of it yet, but I pass the library daily. One of these days!