In 1966, Yorktown-based Marsh Supermarkets made waves 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, and I try to take a photo whenever I drive past one.
Pendleton’s first Village Pantry stood at 228 S. Pendleton Avenue just south of downtown. The building was small, so Marsh announced plans to lease a vacant, 6,000-square-foot structure on East Water Street in 19851. The following year, the chain moved its headquarters from Muncie to a location on Pendleton’s east side2. A larger Village Pantry opened downtown in 19863.
Unfortunately, Village Pantry was in a pickle during the mid-eighties. The company’s second-ever supermarket, an old foodliner at Muncie’s corner of Main and Hackley had long since closed, but residents of the city’s Emily Kimbrough Historic District were clamoring for a new grocery store since the only thing nearby was a Miller Milkhouse4.
The store’s small lot meant Marsh couldn’t commit to a full-size supermarket. A brash “Big Orange” Village Pantry wouldn’t complement the area’s character either, so company brass commissioned architect James Gooden to draw up plans for a “Victorian Style” store that would blend in with its historic surroundings5. The outpost in Pendleton was designed in the same fashion.
After Village Pantry closed, I remember it operating as a knockoff called “Pendleton Pantry” for many years. Today, Village Pantry’s old Victorian structure is home to an Amoco “togo” gas station.
Sources Cited
1 Alexander, M. (1985, Septemer 6). Village Pantries plans to shift offices to area. The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 1.
2 Alexander, M. (1986, January 27). Village Pantry to add 3 stores in area. The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 5.
3 Parcel 48-14-21-202-074.001-013 (2025). Office of the Assessor. Madison County [Anderson]. Web. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
4 Wilcox, S.E. (1984, March 16). Marsh may build new Pantry store to fit historic neighborhood. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 19.
5 (See footnote 4).
