As I recall the grocery store at Azalea in fact did not have an entrance into the mall. Seems you could see inside the store through windows from the mall, but you had to enter from the outside. I do remember it being a Pantry Pride, but am going blank on what names it carried toward the end. I want to say it carried the Super Fresh banner at the end, and it seems it was a straight A&P briefly. Do you remember? I distinctly remember a lot of green in the store's color scheme.Dave wrote:Technically, before they renovated it, Willow Lawn wasn't a mall, but a large shopping center in a strip configuration. Originally, Giant Food was an anchor at one end, with JC Penney at the other. There was also a Safeway added later in a strange location at the rear of the center. The Giant is now Tower Records and the Safeway was torn down when they "malled" the center in the 1980's.
Azalea Mall was Richmond's first true mall. I can't remember if the grocery at Azalea opened into the mall or not (I don't think so).
Excuse me for being a curmudgeon, but I think of a "mall" as being an enclosed shoppping center. A "strip mall" is a condradiction in terms to me. Back in the late 1970's there seemed to have been a lot of shopping centers that used the mall name that weren't malls at all (Chippenham Mall and Beaufont Mall in Richmond immediately come to mind). I suppose that was to cash in on the trend of the times.
Now, of course, using the word "mall" in your name seems to be the kiss of death!
Perhaps if I knew a little more about the history of Pantry Pride things might become clearer.
And I agree 100% with you on the "mall" terminology.
EDIT: Food Fair, then Pantry Pride, according to this. I don't remember there being a Home Shop (used to shop at the old Home Shop in Ashland quite often though).