A deli, situated in a courtyard of Village at Centennial Square, has acquired a special reputation among San Francisco State University students.
Whether for a late-night pizza or a bar of soap, students have been frequenting the Village for years. Nicknamed “V-Mart” or “VilMar,” as students rotate out of the dorms every year, newcomers to SFSU discover this revered spot and make it a hub for hangouts on the patio or quick shopping inside.
Throughout move-in week and the first week of classes, many students and parents walked through the market’s doors to pick up the occasional snack. Nathan Muniz, a transfer student from Southern California, compared the Village to a bodega.
“[The Village] reminds me a little bit of New York,” Muniz said. “It’s the little shops they have there, like a mini gas station.”
As the new school year brings more business to the Village, manager Junior Ascobar is ecstatic to see new faces coming to the store.
“All the students are awesome because they’re happy to be here at the school,” Ascobar said. “And then we love to work with the students here. We hire a lot of students.”
One of these student-employees is third-year computer science student Ryan George, who has worked at the Village since his freshman year.
George remembers the regulars who frequent the shop over the course of a semester, even nonstudents. As West Grove Commons was being constructed, George recalled many of the construction workers visiting the campus deli.
“When we had the new dorms being built, we had the workers come here every day,” George said. “They were here for eight months straight, and they would get pizza. I still remember their order.”
The allure of the Village stretches beyond SFSU. George, who has cousins who attended University of San Francisco, knew about the store’s existence after going to parties in a nearby neighborhood, Parkmerced.
“I told [my cousins] I worked at this market, and they immediately knew the place because it was a staple,” George said.
Some students were pleasantly surprised with the store’s wide selection of household items. Natalia Alcocer, a third-year transfer student, was amazed to find basic necessities such as laundry detergent and soap.
“When I first walked in [the Village], I didn’t think they’d have stuff like cleaning supplies, which I thought was really cool,” Alcocer said.
Summer Gagliarditto, a third-year transfer student, noted the store’s easy access for students looking to fill up on essentials.
“I thought it was very convenient,” Gagliarditto said. “They have a lot of stuff that I didn’t think they would have. It’s nice to know it’s right below where we’re living.”
While the student body changes every year, the charm of the Village is something every SFSU student will come to know.
