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(From left) Tyra Gallagher and her mother, Renee Thompson Truehart, inside Darrell’s Supermarket
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Darrell’s Supermarket is currently undergoing renovations and is set to open by mid-December.
Richmond native Renee Thompson Truehart explains her daily ritual at her new business: “Each morning, I walk every aisle and say, ‘Prosperity.’ If you live in gratitude, it will return to you."
The 56-year-old recently purchased the shuttered Food Rite grocery store in the Meadowood Square Shopping Center. Along with her daughter, Tyra Gallagher, Truehart will debut Darrell’s Family Supermarket at 5118 Richmond Henrico Turnpike in mid-December.
“I’ve always wanted to own a grocery store,” she continues, her eyes gleaming with excitement above her face mask.
For the mother-daughter team, this feels like a full-circle moment. Truehart used to frequent the Food Rite store as a child and had been eyeing the space for years, visualizing a future mom-and-pop grocery store. After passing through the hands of three different owners, the building eventually landed on the market again, and Truehart saw her moment.
“I said, 'That’s it, I want my chance,' ” she says. “So many people love this store. I’m up for the challenge and happy to be able to give back to the community.”
Named for Truehart’s younger brother Darrell, who died in October, the supermarket’s foundation is family (Its tagline is “Come in. You’re Family.”), community and faith.
“We know our customers because we were one of them at one time,” says Truehart, also the author of the novel “Cement Walls" and the children’s book “Good Touch, Bad Touch.”
“When I was a teenager I would drive my grandmother to [this] store all the time,” echoes 36-year-old Gallagher, a dialysis technician. “It was her favorite grocery store."
Since the pair acquired the space a month ago, the project has been a labor of love, the interior now adorned with fresh coats of paint, the break room given inviting touches and new point-of-sale systems on the way.
Truehart, a John Marshall High School graduate who grew up in Mosby Court, says that while she’s never owned a grocery store, she’s determined to succeed, and that the support from the community has been overwhelming.
“I was a dreamer; I knew there was something more,” she says. “It feels amazing to walk in here every day.”
Above the aisles of Darrell's, signs will feature the names of neighbors and community members in hopes of creating a more intimate and personal connection with shoppers. The supermarket will carry traditional grocery items and also feature an area dedicated to local vendors. Gallagher says they want to do their best to serve the entire community.
“We want to have the staples of the community that have always been here, and hope to have craft beer and some vegan options. … We want to be able to cater to literally everyone," she says.
When asked how involved the rest of the family is in the venture, as if on cue, Gallagher’s aunt and cousins walk inside the market.
“Good timing,” Gallagher says with a laugh, noting that everyone has been doing their part. “We’re super close as a family; we do things together.”
Upon its debut, Darrell's will be the only family-owned, non-chain supermarket in the neighborhood. Opening in an area with a marked lack of access to fresh and healthy foods, the supermarket will help meet a dire need for the surrounding community.
“We’re dead smack in a food desert,” Gallagher says. “People need this.”
Darrell's recently gained global attention after Gallagher posted a video on the video-sharing social networking platform TikTok. She says she was inspired to upload a video and showcase their journey but had no idea what would happen afterward.
“One day I randomly posted one, and it went crazy a little bit,” she says. "My brother called me and said, 'You’re trending on Twitter.' ”
The video went viral, receiving thousands of shares and retweets and views from as far away as Switzerland, even catching the eyes of producers on the Ellen Degeneres talk show.
“I envisioned that we would do something together, my mom and I,” Gallagher says, “but I didn't know it would be a grocery store. You know, you kind of have this feeling in your bones of, 'I’m going to do something great someday,' but you don’t necessarily know what it is — I feel like this is our great [thing].”
