In 1966, Marsh Supermarkets caused a stir across the Midwest when it jumped into the rapidly growing convenience-store business. Over the next four decades, the company built its Village Pantry brand into a regional powerhouse by opening 154 locations across Indiana and Ohio! Today, some have taken on new lives under different names. Whenever I stumble across one, I can’t resist snapping a photo.
The Village Pantry at 2105 Dixon Road in Kokomo is probably the newest I’ve featured. In 1992, Marsh announced plans to build three outposts in town- one at Dixon, another at the southwest corner of Sycamore and Washington Streets downtown, and a third on North Apperson Way1.
When it opened in 1993, the pantry at Dixon Road was the chain’s largest convenience store2. It offered free large pizza with the purchase of another large at regular price, twelve-piece chicken boxes for $5.99, Pepsi twelve-packs for $2.99, and a dollar off any 12” E.F.Y. (Especially For You) deli sandwich3.
As best I can tell, Village Pantry lasted about twenty-six years on Dixon Road. Signage was removed by 2019. In 2023, the store became property of Dixon Pantry, Incorporated4. It appears to operate as a generic Marathon station today, but its bulbous canopy and angular atrium identify it as a former VP.
Sources Cited
1 Police warn local scams (1992, February 23). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 13.
2 Under construction (1993, July 21). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 6.
3 Village Pantry Still Celebrating (1993, September 10). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 14.
4 Parcel 34-09-11-100-002.000-002 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Howard County [Kokomo]. Web. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
