Our Company

The Padow family has a long tradition in the deli, grocery and ham business. For over 80+ years, in 1936, George Padow opened his first grocery and retail outlet in the historic Jackson Ward area of Richmond, Virginia. The Company quickly became a household name and established its reputation as a purveyor of delicious quality hams and meats at reasonable prices.

A generation later, George’s sons Sidney and Eddie had the vision and determination to adapt the Company to meet the changing needs and demands of its loyal customers. In the 1980’s they decided to leave the grocery store format behind to expand their product offerings by opening Padow’s Hams & Deli.

In 2023, taking over the online shopping experience, Stephanie Padow Manheim followed in her grandfather’s and father’s footsteps. She is the owner of Padow’s Hams Co. and ships Hams, Peanuts, Jellies, VA Mixes, Gift Boxes, and more nationwide. The Padow reputation was recognized for serving delicious deli meats, homemade soups, pizza, pasta and more! The specialty retail food shops were no longer only available locally, but some of their products were available through their online shopping site.

The first Padow’s Hams & Deli opened in the Willow Lawn Shopping Center in the West End of Richmond in 1988, serving a variety of sandwiches. A second shop was opened in the Stein Mart Festival Shopping Center on the city’s Southside in 1990. They then opened a third shop in 1992 on East Main Street in the heart of downtown Richmond’s financial district.

Two years later in 1994 the first Padow’s Deli Shop was licensed in a Convenience store on Route 10 (Ironbridge Road) in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Sadly, that location later closed when the original owner passed away. The road to franchising had begun.  In 2000 the company owned store in the Stein Mart Festival Shopping Center on Midlothian Turnpike was sold as a franchise. The City Hall Deli, also originally a company owned location was sold as a franchise in 2004. Several months later the company owned Main Street location was sold as a franchise. Over the years the Hams & Deli Franchises opened throughout Virginia from Roanoke to Williamsburg.

The Padow’s Hams & Deli stores continued to grow in 2005, opening in the Circuit City Shopping Center and later moving to the Innsbrook Area of Gen Allen. Today, there is one company owned Padow’s Deli and two Padow’s Hams and Deli franchises that are still in operation.

As they continue with the family tradition, they look forward to fulfilling the shopping needs of their customers by serving top quality deli meats, hams, peanuts and gift boxes for many years to come.