A person walking a cart full of groceries through a grocery store

Dec. 2, 2022

VCU’s Ram City Market opens

The on-campus grocery store will offer fresh produce, made-to-order sandwiches, a variety of dry grocery items and more.

Ram City Market will serve as a late-night option for VCU students and the VCU community. The hours of operation will be from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
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By Brian McNeill

Ram City Market, a 4,100-square-foot grocery store on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus, opened this week in a soft opening. A grand opening celebration is planned for January.

The store, located at 912 W. Grace St. in a space that was formerly home to a campus Walmart that closed in July 2019, will offer fresh produce, to-go coffee, made-to-order sandwiches, ready-to-eat meals, a variety of dry grocery items and more – all at prices competitive with major grocery stores. The store is centrally located on campus, so students, faculty and staff can conveniently visit for their grocery needs.

A hand basket with food it in. The hand basket has a label that reads \"RAM CITY MARKET\" on it
Ram City Market opened Thursday as part of a soft opening. A grand opening is planned for January. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

“After a long-awaited year and overcoming many obstacles, we know the community is as excited as we are to finally open,” said Diane Reynolds, assistant vice president for business services at VCU. “We expect Ram City Market to provide the convenience and quality of food our campus needs to help close the gap on food insecurity."

Ram City Market will accept swipes, Dining Dollars, cash, debit, credit and RamBucks. It is also applying through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to accept payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The store will serve as an additional late-night option for VCU students and the VCU community. The hours of operation will be from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The store will be operated through a partnership between Aramark and VCU Dining Services, part of VCU Business Services, and will be open to the general public.

People waiting in line and one person using a self-check out machine at Ram City Market
The store will offer fresh produce, to-go coffee, made-to-order sandwiches, ready-to-eat meals, a variety of dry grocery items and more at prices competitive with major grocery stores. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

The store’s name and logo were chosen by VCU students who participated in a survey sent on Aug. 18. In a previous survey conducted by VCUDine last spring, students expressed interest in a grocery store, with 89% saying they would be “very likely” or “likely” to shop at a smaller-scale campus grocery store with prices comparable to grocery stores.

Ram City Market is located on the ground floor of the Grace Street Center, a VCU building that opened in 2015 and that also houses Enterprise Marketing and Communications, the Global Education Office, the Office of Procurement Services and more.