The building at 127 W. Main St. in downtown Lexington is being remodeled. A new bodega-type store, Modern Pantry Marketplace, will be opening there in November.
Tasha Poullard
tpoullard@herald-leader.com
People passing through downtown Lexington might have noticed a new sign on Main Street that says “Modern Pantry Marketplace.”
What is it — a cafe? Or, dare they hope, a store?
It’s going to be a bit of both, actually, according to owner Romi Singh.
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Modern Pantry Marketplace will open in mid-November at 127 W. Main St. on the ground floor of an historic three-story building with offices on the upper floors.
“It’s going to be like a convenience store. A very big convenience store, with food and coffee,” said Singh, who also owns Ruby’s Market and Cafe, a similar enterprise, on Short Street. Singh and his wife, Ruby, opened that shop in 2023 in the former Postmaster’s Pub/Village Idiot/Metropol restaurant property at 307 W. Short St. Before that, they had an even smaller shop, KM Food Mart, at 112 Mill St.
The building at 127 W. Main St. in downtown Lexington is being remodeled. A new bodega-type store, Modern Pantry Marketplace, will be opening there in November. Tasha Poullard tpoullard@herald-leader.com
The building at 127 W. Main St. in downtown Lexington is being remodeled. A new bodega-type store, Modern Pantry Marketplace, will be opening there in November. Tasha Poullard tpoullard@herald-leader.com
What will Modern Pantry sell?
Singh said that Modern Pantry Marketplace will be bigger than Ruby’s, about 2,200 square feet, with 14 door-fronted coolers for beer cases, reach-in drinks, plus coffee, fountain drinks, slushies and ice cream.
The shop also will serve hot food, such as sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, burgers, gyros, chicken tenders and wings, all made fresh, he said.
If that sounds like a bodega, that’s exactly what it’s meant to be — a New York-style bodega, Singh said.
Joseph S. Wile Sr., 86, president of the 103-year-old Wolf Wile Co., April 1992. The store, founded in 1889 by cousins of Wile’s father, Dolph, was downtown Lexington’s last department store. Wile, who has worked for Wolf Wile’s since 1927, said the closing was forced by declining sales, the lack of a successor willing to take over the business and the lack of a buyer for the store, which has been at 244 East Main Street since 1950. Wolf Wile’s had been the only department store downtown since 1980, when Ben Snyder closed the store it had operated on East Main Street since 1935. Earlier downtown closings included Purcell’s in 1970, Stewart’s in 1979, Hymson’s in 1981, Embry’s in 1981 and Woolworth’s in 1990. Wile attributed the survival of Wolf Wile’s to conservative management and low overhead - the company owned its East Main Street building. Today it is the offices for Gray Construction. Photo by Tim Sharp | staff
The aisles of Wolf Wile’s department store were filled April 7, 1992 with shoppers looking for going-out-of-business bargains. Sixteen days later on April 23, downtown Lexington’s last department store closed it’s doors after 103 years. Wolf Wile’s was known to generations of Lexingtonians for its sophisticated decor, personal service and lively window displays. Wolf Wile’s specialized in women’s apparel and accessories, but also sold men’s clothing, household goods and other merchandise. The store closed at 5 p.m. six days a week and was not open on Sunday. But the store became less of a force in Lexington retailing as suburban malls, round-the-clock mail order and bargain outlets became popular with time-pressed consumers. “I’ve traded with this store for 60 years,” said Virginia Williams of Morehead on one of the last days of the store. “I used to come here when I was a teen-ager. I hate to see it go. It really breaks my heart.” In the days leading up to the closing, much of the merchandise had been marked down as much as 60 percent, creating a shopping frenzy the store had not see in years with hour-long waits at check-out counters. But the sale was also tinged with sadness. Shoppers said they would miss the quality of Wolf Wile’s merchandise, the exemplary service of the sales clerks and the excitement of the days when downtown hummed with retail activity. Photo by Tim Sharp | staff TIM SHARP LEXINGTON EHRALD-LEADER
Negative X.2860 - a. Photo of then-newly remodeled Miss Embry Shop in December 1966. The department featured fashions specifically for the young married or career girls. Photo appeared in the Sunday Lexington Herald-Leader on December 4, 1966. Lexington Herald-Leader Photo Archive. Keyword: Historical Photograph, Embry’s department store, clothing store, downtown Lexington. Staff Photographer Lexington Herald-Leader
A Rite Aid on Main Street closed in 2008, and the building was torn down to make way (eventually) for the City Center development. The Rite Aid had been next to the Main Street location of Woolworth’s, across the street from where the new Modern Pantry will soon open.
480909woolworth-Scene at opening of the F.W Woolworth store Sept.9,1948. B/w only, Herald-Leader File Photo Keyword: historical photograph. Herald-Leader File Photo
View of Main Street in downtown Lexington looking west in August of 1948, a month before the F.W.Woolworth store was to open. The business’ making up this block included Jane Lee, left, Woolworth, and Graves Cox. The buildings on this block were razed in 2008 to make way for the CentrePointe development. Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader August 29, 1948. Herald-Leader Archive Photo Herald-Leader
Mary Beth Navmann and Kevin Compton, left, and Brent Roach and Elizabeth Browning, watch members of the Diversified Demolition crew tear down the old Rite Aid building at the corner of Limestone and Main Street in Lexington, Ky., on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The building was being demolished to make way for the proposed CentrePointe development. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff 6223 David Stephenson | Staff
Demolition continues on the Woolworth building, bottom right, on Main Street in downtown Lexington, Ky., on 11/03/04. David Stephenson/staff DAVID STEPHENSON LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER
A little over a decade ago, two stores made a run at reviving downtown grocery shopping: Shorty’s, The Urban Market, opened in 2011 in the former Traditional Bank building at 163 W. Short St. It closed in 2013. Another store, Town Branch Market, at Esplanade and East Main Street, also opened in 2011, but closed in 2015.
Shorty’s, The Urban Market is at 163 West Short Street.
Manager Rusty Campbell brought stock out of a vault that doubles as a storage room at Shorty’s, The Urban Market, located in a former bank.
Town Branch Market is expected to open in May at East Main Street and Esplanade. Businessman Howard Stovall, who made the announcement Tuesday, said the store will carry local products whenever it can.
More stores coming?
Singh and his wife also own several gas stations/convenience stores in Lexington, but they want to open more small, urban convenience stores, he said.
The Main Street location will have no parking, but Singh is hoping for lots of foot traffic: The shop will be near the 21c Museum Hotel, across from Marriott City Center and Residence Inn City Center, and surrounded by offices, restaurants and bars.
Modern Pantry Marketplace
Where: 127 W. Main St.
Hours: Sunday through Wednesday 9 a.m. to midnight, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Janet Patton covers restaurants, bars, food and bourbon for the Herald-Leader. She is an award-winning business reporter who also has covered agriculture, gambling, horses and hemp.Support my work with a digital subscription
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