Marsh Supermarkets made waves around the midwest in 1966 when it entered the fast-growing segment of convenience stores. By the time it was sold to a private equity firm forty years later, Marsh operated 154 Village Pantries around Indiana and Ohio! The oldest have been repurposed, and I try to take pictures when I run across them.
The third-ever Village Pantry stood at 1803 West Memorial in Muncie. Designed by architect George Cox1, the 2,500-square-foot store cost $42,000 to build. It employed seven people and stocked 3,000 items, including a limited grocery line2. A 1967 advertisement celebrating its grand opening touted offerings like “delicatessen delights, oven-fresh delicacies, dairy delights,” and beverages and snacks3.
Village Pantry operated at that corner for much of the 1980s, at least according to old records4, although I’m not sure I recall ever seeing the convenience store actually using that name. I do remember when it switched to Marathon in 2013, though. The old Village Pantry has been a Sunoco-branded Hoosier Pete since about 2021.
Sources Cited
1 Marsh to Build in Southeast Muncie (1966, October 5). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 23.
2 Marsh Plans New Division (1966, September 19). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 14.
3 Opening Celebration (1967, October 25). The Muncie Star. p. 6.
4 Davis, S. (1988, October 28). Man Confesses to Holdup Spree. The Muncie Star. p. 6.
That 1967 ad copy is irritating – there are too many delights and delectibles, especially when a delicatessen is involved too. The guy must have been delirious.
I agree wholeheartedly! A lot of copy from those days is certainly of its era.