In my twenties, snow days in Richmond were not a crisis. They were a gift.
You walked to the local market, and back then there were only a handful, stocked up on whatever counted as “supplies,” and then wandered off under the sacred banner of “snow law.” That meant drinks, porch hangs, maybe snowball fights, and eventually migrating as a group to whichever spot still had power for last call. Living in The Fan made it all pretty easy. Things were cheaper, people walked more, and half the night was spent randomly bumping into people you knew.
Fast forward to now, with major snow and ice in the forecast this weekend, the rush is on.
That is why, when I stopped by Lombardy Market for a snack yesterday, I decided to ask co-owner John Watkinson what snow days actually look like from his side of the counter.
Lombardy has been holding it down near VCU since 1981, when John’s father, R.E. Watkinson, opened the place just before John was born. John is 43 now. The math checks out. The market has been here longer than most of you reading this.
When snow hits, Lombardy does not close. Ever.
“We’ve never not been open,” John told me. Not during the blizzard of ’96. Not during ice storms. Not when the shelves get tested and the streets empty out. In fact, some of their busiest days ever came during major snow events. Back when, as John put it, “there wasn’t all kinds of delivery things. You actually had to walk somewhere.”
People still grab frozen food, easy meals, spaghetti stuff, beer. But the vibe has changed. “Kids are drinking a lot less now,” John noted. The difference today is convenience. Everything delivers. Walmart. Amazon. Grubhub. You can panic-buy without putting on a coat or interacting with another human being.
And yet, the local market still matters. Especially in walkable neighborhoods near campus. As John put it plainly, “Some of our busiest days have been in the snow. So snow is good for us. As long as we have power.”
Power is the key. Lombardy is ready. Generators are ready. Actually, generators plural. “I’ve got three of them,” John said, then paused and admitted he should probably go check on them.
After we wrapped up this deep, in-depth interview, John laughed and said he wished it snowed all the time.
It was a joke.
Mostly.
So as Richmond braces for whatever this storm ends up being, maybe take a breath before clearing out a big box store. Support local places like Lombardy, Shields, Strawberry Street Market, and the many independent neighborhood markets woven into the fabric of this city. They show up when things get inconvenient.
The least we can do is show up for them.
P.S. If you see R.E., make sure to chat him up. That guy has local stories you will never read about, mostly because there nobody alive to fact-check them.
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