V. Richard's
V. Richard's Market was a neighborhood specialty grocery store and small delicatessen located at 3916 Clairmont Avenue in Birmingham's Forest Park neighborhood from 1995 to 2015. The store was owned by Rick Little 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 continued to trade 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 was 20% larger and featured 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, but that project was delayed and the grocery backed out. The company also operates Catherine's Market at Lake Martin's Russell Crossroads. Another store, Enzo's Market in Chattanooga, Tennessee, closed in 2014.
In January 2015 the Forest Park flagship store broke its lease and closed shop.
References
- Williams, Roy L. (October 28, 2007) "'We're a specialty market.'" The 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." The 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." The Birmingham News
- Davis, Bryan (January 30, 2015) "V. Richards grocery store to close in Forest Park." Birmingham Business Journal
- McClure, Joey (n. d.) "V. Richards' decision to close." Joseph McClure Commercial Real Estate LLC
External links
- V. Richard's website