V. Richard's
V. Richard's Market is a neighborhood specialty grocery store and small delicatessen located at 3916 Clairmont Avenue in Birmingham's Forest Park neighborhood. The store is owned by Rick Little, who opened it in 1995, and managed by his son Rickey.
Little and his father, Vincent, operated a number of "Pick 'N' Save" grocery stores in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Little had the idea for a gourmet specialty market while traveling in Europe in 1981. The first store opened in 1984 in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. It was purchased from the Little family out of bankruptcy in 2002, but still trades under the V. Richard's name.
Meanwhile, Little began scouting the South for good locations and settled on Birmingham, opening V. Richard's in a 5,400 square-foot space in a historic retail building at 3908 Clairmont Avenue, in the heart of Forest Park.
A second Birmingham area location in Homewood's Edgewood business district opened in 1999, but was unprofitable, and closed 18 months later so that Little could refocus on the original store.
In 2004, Little relocated the business to an adjacent building vacated by Payless Drugs. The new location is 20% larger and features a larger dining area and a new outdoor terrace. Abigail's Bakery was acquired to provide fresh bread and desserts.
In March 2010 V. Richards announced that it would open a new location in the Pizitz Building being redeveloped by Bayer Properties. The company also operates Catherine's Market at Lake Martin and Enzo's Market in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (October 28, 2007) "'We're a specialty market.'" Birmingham News
- Sepsas, Niki (May 2007) "The Hometown Grocer." Birmingham Magazine. Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 134-5
- Goodman, Sherri C. (February 25, 2007) "Whole Foods giving Forest Park's V. Richards concern." Birmingham News
- Daykin, Tom (November 24, 2003) "More in store." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Tomberlin, Michael (March 12, 2010) "V. Richards expanding to Birmingham's Pizitz Building." Birmingham News
External links
- V. Richard's website