Manchester Needs a Grocery Store — and It’s Time We Talk About It!

Manchester is booming — but somehow still a food desert.

If you’ve driven through Manchester recently, you’ll see it everywhere: cranes in the sky, riverside townhomes selling for over a million, new apartment towers—and yet, for as much as this neighborhood has surged, one piece is still missing: a full-service grocery store.

📊 Growth you can’t ignore

• The Census-Reporter profile shows Manchester’s median household income in 2023 at $72,465, up from about $70,841 in 2022. 

• Population is rising: from 11,929 in 2022 to ~12,347 in 2023 for one defined “Manchester, VA” area. 

• The broader Greater Richmond region is growing fast — one recent report found that out of Virginia’s ~84,000 new residents (since 2020) almost half landed in the Richmond MSA. 

• In Manchester specifically: “development projects bringing more than 1,000 new apartments to the area and a total investment of more than $400 million.” 

🛒 So why no grocery store?

This is the striking part: Hundreds of new housing units. Rising incomes. Premium homes along the river. Walkable neighborhoods. And yet, residents south of the James still lack a true full-scale grocery store within their block or two. They’re forced to cross the river, drive farther than they should for what should be a neighborhood staple.

🎯 The Opportunity is huge

For any retail/grocery chain or developer, this is a strategic win waiting to happen. Two clear paths:

• Value-focused option: Chains like Aldi or Lidl could align perfectly with the demographic — people who want convenience, affordability, and quality.

• Destination option: A higher-end play like Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe’s could fundamentally shift how Manchester is perceived — from rising neighborhood to true hotspot.

📢 A Call to Action

If you live, work, or invest in Richmond — especially in or near Manchester — we need your voice.

• Share this post.

• Comment: “Which grocery chain should show up next?”

• Tag someone: a developer, a grocery chain, a local official.

• Let’s bring attention to this gap and push for a retail investment that keeps pace with the neighborhood’s trajectory.

Manchester is ready. The rooftops are there. The disposable income is there. The growth is happening. What’s missing is the grocery anchor. Let’s fix that.

👉 Who’s going to make the move? Aldi, Lidl, Whole Foods — or another? Drop your opinion below and let’s get the conversation started.