Retro Richmond reader Barry has been busy digging up all sorts of cool goodies lately! He’s definitely earning a gold star this month!

If you recall, last week — through the help of Barry and fellow Retro Richmond reader David — the mystery of the Barrel-roofed structure located on West 20th Street was solved.

Though it lived out its final days as a Community Pride store, this curvaceous storefront had its humble beginnings as Siegel’s SuperMarket.

During a trip to The Valentine Richmond History Center, Barry scored some shots of Siegel’s SuperMarket from 1959 (the year it opened). They are such a sight to behold that I had to share them!

Courtesy of The Valentine Richmond History Center

It looks like at some point and time they added more window panes to the front. Did something happen to the front of the store? Does anyone know?

The view inside:

Courtesy of The Valentine Richmond History Center

Isn’t she beautiful?! What I wouldn’t give to see this placed restored. How amazing would that be? Ah well, a retro gal can dream!

Special thanks to Barry for going the extra mile and sharing these wonderful photos with me!

The Marina mystery has been solved! Thanks to a tip from Retro Richmond reader Barry and a little help from David, author of Old Richmond Grocery Stores, the history of this wonderful structure has been uncovered!

Here’s what David had to say:

The 20th Street store was built as a Siegel’s. It first appeared in the city directory in 1959. It remained a Siegel’s until 1989 when Siegel’s was acquired by Farm Fresh. Farm Fresh operated it for one year as a Nick’s Market and then sold it to Community Pride.

From what I’ve gathered, Charlie Siegel got into the grocery business in the 1940’s. There was a Siegel’s at 419 N. 6th in the 1941 directory and one at 426 N. 6th from 1950 to 1968. Siegel also operated at 1911 W. Main (last time I looked, it was a brewpub) from 1968 to 1986.

All of my dates are from the city directory and are approximate. Charlie Siegel’s brother “Hip” Siegel was the “S” in S&K Famous Brands.

Everyone wants to make the 20th & Hull store into a Safeway or something else, but it was Siegel’s from the beginning. The barrel roof style was popular for supermarket construction in it’s day, though not as much in Richmond as in other places. One thing it’s not, is a Marina. The best surviving example of a Marina Safeway still in Richmond is the Big Apple Market at Jeff Davis and Terminal.

So there you have it. The building formerly known as Community Pride had its humble beginnings as a Siegel’s SuperMarket in 1959.

The added bonus to this story: the roof style is NOT a Marina, but a Barrel roof (which I’m not 100 percent sold on since I think of Barrel roofs as more rounded, but David is probably correct. To me, it looks like a Barrel-Marina hybrid.)

Thanks to Barry for the Siegel’s tip and to David for the additional info! Now we just need to get this building a historic landmark designation so it can remain standing for all to see.