I’m late to the game here and am not exactly breaking any news, but the old Marsh Supermarket on Nichol Avenue in Anderson finally came back to relevance with its space split between the Needler’s Fresh Market grocery and Benge’s Ace Hardware. The west side of Anderson sorely needed something like this!
Anderson’s Nichol Avenue Marsh opened in 1959. “You’ll Find Greater Savings,” an early ad proclaimed, “when you shop our new Anderson Store. You’ll find many wonderful Grand Opening Values, but stop and take a good look, and shop and compare our regular everyday shelf price….THE PRICE IS ALWAYS RIGHT at your New MARSH1.”
At about 40,000 square feet2, the Marsh at Nichol Avenue wasn’t exactly a superstore- especially as Marsh began building bigger and bigger groceries. Because of that, the company converted it into a no-frills LoBill supermarket after it debuted that brand in the 1990s3. After the Marsh family sold the business to a private equity firm, the Nichol Avenue store became Marsh Hometown Market until it closed when the company declared bankruptcy. It was vacant beginning in 20174.
Two years after it was shuttered, the Anderson Redevelopment Commission bought the store for $230,000. Five years later, the commission reached an agreement with Indianapolis real estate agency Kennmar to sell the property for $500,000 so Needler’s and Ace could open5. Ace came online in November 2025, and Needler’s followed in March6. Completely renovated, the building looks brand new.
I used to work with a guy who lived in earshot of this new place. He used to tell the tragic tale of how he had to take his empty propane tank six miles away to be filled, despite living next door to a Speedway that would exchange it. Now that Ace is practically in his backyard, my former colleague will have no excuse!
Still, the Needler’s connection is interesting. When Marsh declared bankruptcy in 2017, two companies bid on its stores. Topvalco, a Kroger subsidiary, bought eleven of them around Indy, Muncie, and Bloomington. In association with Fresh Encounter of Findlay, Ohio, Generative Growth II bought fifteen additional stores for $8 million7. Fresh Encounter ultimately renamed all but one of its new groceries “Needler’s Fresh Market” after its owners’ family name8.
Fresh Encounter operated tons of stores under various brands like Great Scot, Community Markets, Sack ‘N Save, King Saver, Germantown Fresh Market, Remke Markets, and Chief, but I think it might have gotten its hand stuck in the cookie jar with Needler’s. Some were very nice stores, but their appearance seemed to mostly depend on how the individual Marsh the company took over had been maintained. The Needler’s in Pendleton was a great place to shop! The one in Hartford City wasn’t so much.
Unfortunately, Needler’s in Columbus closed after less than a year in 2018 thanks to an extant Kroger a mile away9. Then one on Fox Road near Geist Reservoir was shuttered as well. Another store in Eaton, Ohio, closed after less than two10! An old Marsh in Lafayette that Fresh Encounter eventually opened after months of delays and closed after about a year and a half11. Needler’s in Troy, Ohio -the spot where Marsh scanned the first UPC ever- was shut down for good in 2026 after spending several years as a liquor store12. One more Needler’s in Greensburg, Indiana, closed in 202613.
That’s not to say everything was bad. Needler’s opened a new grocery in Carmel at the site of Marsh’s old O’Malias on 126th Street14 and did a great job of remodeling it. Still, the Fresh Encounter family of companies was sold to grocery distributor SpartanNash in 202415. SpartanNash itself was sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers the following year16. With all that corporate rigamarole, it’s a wonder that the Needler’s on Nichol opened at all!
I’m glad to see the old Marsh serving Anderson again. Eight years is a long time for a supermarket to sit empty, and splitting the building between Needler’s and Benge’s Ace seems like a realistic way to give it another life. I just hope Needler’s sticks around. Its track record in former Marsh stores has been uneven, and its higher prices can make it a tough sell against Kroger, Walmart, and other big-box competitors. Still, Marsh managed to sell groceries on Nichol Avenue in one form or another for nearly sixty years. At least the old store has groceries on the shelves and customers in the parking lot again, which seems like a much better fate than another decade of plywood, weeds, and vacancy.
Sources Cited
1 Marsh Is Growing To Serve You Better (1959, January 8). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 29.
2 Parcel 48-11-15-102-005.000-003 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Madison County [Anderson]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
3 LoBill Foods (2002, October 30). The Pendleton Times. p. 2.
4 Old Anderson Marsh Store to House Needler’s Fresh Market and Ace Hardware as Final Legal Steps Are Completed (2024, September 23). Live In Lapel. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
5 de la Bastide, K. (2025, July 18). Ace Hardware set to open Sept. 29. The Anderson Herald-Bulletin. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
6 Needler’s Fresh Market Opens Doors to New Store in Anderson (2026, March 20). C&S WHolesale Grocers [Keene]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
7 Sale of 26 Marsh stores approved by bankruptcy court, remaining 18 stores to close (2017, June 14). FOX59 [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
8 De Leon Chavez, M. (2017, August 29). Marsh Stores to be Rebranded as Needler’s Fresh Market. AndNowUKnow. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
9 Webber, M. (2018, March 17). New grocery store closing. The Columbus Republic. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
10 Mowen, E. (2019, March 5). Needler’s Fresh Market to close Eaton location. The Eaton Register-Herald. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
11 Vetter, E. (2021, January 21). Only Needler’s Fresh Market location in Lafayette to close at the end of January. The Lafayette Journal & Courier. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
12 Southall, M. (2026, March 24). Troy’s Needler’s Market to close permanently on March 26. WDTN [Dayton]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
13 Harmeyer, S. (2026, February 24). Needler’s Fresh Market in Greensburg to close in March. 812NOW. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
14 Kollar, J. (2021, August 20). Needler’s Fresh Market opens in former grocery store spot in East Carmel. FOX59 [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
15 Shambaugh, A.M. (2024, October 15). Needler’s Fresh Market purchased by Michigan company.
16 C&S Wholesale Grocers Completes Acquisition of SpartanNash (2025, September 22). C&S WHolesale Grocers [Keene]. Web. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
