Let’s pretend you’re a national grocery chain and you’ve fallen in love with Marin County’s demographics. Now, for the purpose of this hypothetical situation, you have two stores that have become so popular that parking is almost a contact sport. And for the sake of argument, let’s say you have another store being built. Life seems pretty good, you national chain you.
What if we called you Whole Foods? Would that change anything in the hypothetical? Well, the chain’s last quarter financials included the worst same store sales in the company’s 28-year history. The company’s profits were off 30 percent from the same quarter in 2007. Common stock share prices are down better than 50 percent this year, and the Federal Trade Commission has been grumpy over the Austin-based company’s acquisition of rival grocer Wild Oats Markets. Seems the FTC feels that if Whole Paycheck’s deal to gobble up Wild Oats stands, the natural foods sector would be less competitive. The federal agency won an appeal regarding a decision on the merger on July 29.
The tough quarter has the Texas retailer doing a two-step when it comes to expansion plans for next year. And that’s where Marin comes back into the mix. The store that’s currently being built in downtown Novato is part of a significant mixed-use project that includes housing and is well on its way to being finished. Now word out of the Lone Star State is that new store growth has been scaled back from 25 or 30 new stores next year to just 15. And one of those new stores may be in Mill Valley.
What’s that you say? Whole Foods already has a very successful store in Mill Valley on Miller Avenue. Right you are. The store went into Mill Valley in the 1990s and became so popular, causing such congestion on Miller, that both parking and traffic patterns had to be reconfigured. City planning officials drastically underestimated the demand for organic veggies and chair massages, but perhaps they aren’t the only ones who were caught flat-footed.
The worst kept secret in the city in Mount Tamalpais’ shadow is that city hall types wanted a Trader Joe’s to go into the 23,000-square-foot space left open when Albertson’s went out of business in the Alto Center. City Manager Anne Montgomery went as far as to ask Albertson’s, the lease holder, to convince the Pasadena-based chain to open a store. But alas, Trader Joe’s didn’t bite.
But Whole Paycheck did. It signed a lease in March of 2007, and the story told ’round town was that the Texas chain wasn’t planning to open a store there; they just wanted to be sure Trader Joe’s didn’t. Meanwhile, the smaller retailers in the Alto Center, owned by real estate investor Lupert Adler, are suffering from a lack of retail traffic driven by a large supermarket.
Whole Foods officials say they have every intention of having two stores, and that the Miller Avenue store needs to be remodeled. The Alto location will let them keep serving customers while this happens. On the other hand, the chain’s requirements for new locations include 40,000 to 70,000 square feet of space, excellent visibility from the street and plenty of exclusive parking. None of those particular qualities come with the Alto location. And as we roll to press, there are no approved plans at city hall for the new store.
Hardware hardball
Let us move on to a story that’s truly Marin in nature. This county has a reputation for being anti-business and anti-growth, and there’s more than a little truth to that rap. But if you’re lucky enough to own a business that people like and patronize, well, almost anything can happen. Or not.
Exhibit A is Corbet’s Hardware in Larkspur. The store has called 1155 Magnolia Avenue home for the last 54 years. But in October 2007, the Corbet family was informed the building owner intended to sell. While it was promised the store would not be forced out, the Corbets decided it was high time to find other local digs. As fate would have it, a space was found by a store customer (who also conveniently owned the space) and it appeared that Corbet’s—part institution, part nuts-and-bolts palace—would continue to sell many things to people anxious to eat up precious leisure time doing it themselves. (We males find our strengths when it comes to all things mechanical. My strong suit seems to be hiring others and writing checks.)
Ah, but there are a few wrinkles. Seems the desired space isn’t zoned correctly for a hardware store, though an office would be spiffy. A rezoning amendment is required. Also, a general plan amendment must be had—and those amendment thingys aren’t so easily had. But wait, like a late night commercial for Ginsu knives, there’s more. The delivery driveway to the property requires an easement from a neighboring property owner who’s not so easy (about easements).
But the store and family enjoy the kind of support normally reserved in Marin for old-growth oaks or, at the very least, rising property values. City Hall received almost 2,000 letters regarding the store’s plight. On the last Thursday night in July, better than 300 folks showed up in the Hall Middle School gymnasium for a public study session regarding the issue. And while Hall Middle School is a darn fine school, the gym wasn’t the draw for those hearty souls wishing to offer their two-cents on the plight of Corbet’s. Beyond the debate basics of being pro- or con-Corbet’s, the city has caught heat for everything from moving at a glacial pace on the issue to having the email system it uses overwhelmed by public feedback, as well as having a city councilmember spouting off in a newspaper opinion piece but getting the facts wrong.
In the end, the city can and should find a way to make the move possible. And the fact the email system was overwhelmed is as much a tribute to the citizens of Larkspur being engaged (and, frankly, endowed with considerable free time), as it is a black mark against the city’s technological choices. And you can blame City Councilman Dan Hillmer for being ill-informed and letting his wishes cloud his poetry. But that’s like blaming a compass for pointing north. Besides, since the good citizens keep pulling the lever next to his name, they need to shoulder some of the blame.
