One of the country’s very first Whole Foods stores closed permanently in late September. Grocery stores close all the time. But residents of Mill Valley who frequented this particular Bay Area Whole Foods are having a hard time letting go.
After calling it a community hub for more than 30 years, many have been irked that Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, could not find the money to save the store. In the hopes of raising awareness and pressuring Amazon to act, they started a petition that has now garnered over 2,000 signatures. However, in the end, it does not seem like those signatures will bring the store back.
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“We all in the community have supported that store for years and years and years,” Jana Hildebrand, a Mill Valley resident of 30 years, told SFGATE in a phone interview. “And now, when the community needs the support of a very powerful company with deep pockets, they are just walking away, saying it’s too expensive to fix the building.”
Opened in 1992, the Mill Valley Whole Foods at 414 Miller Ave. was a beacon of community before it closed permanently just weeks ago. It was a place central to the Mill Valley populace, where residents like Hildebrand would run into neighbors and friends “all the time.” After a rodent infestation and a roof remodel shuttered the store over the summer, it appeared ready for a comeback by early fall. But at the last minute, Amazon pulled the plug, citing costs for more repairs, which SFGATE confirmed with Whole Foods. To this day, the site is still fenced off, with a “temporarily closed” sign and even a “For Sale: Blueberries” advertisement posted on the front door, according to Hildebrand.
She fears it will impact the value of her home.
“I bought my house 30 years ago in large part because of the walkability to the market,” Hildebrand said. “I rent out the cottage in the back of my house, and I tell people you can walk to this beautiful park, you can walk to Whole Foods. I have zero scientific information or study, but I believe this affects my property value.”
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Even city officials knew the effects this closure would have. They asked Whole Foods executives to reconsider the closure, according to the Marin Independent Journal.
“The building is up to code. There are no issues. There are no other permits pending,” Todd Cusimano, Mill Valley’s city manager, told the publication.
When that did not work, a petition started circulating on Change.org. The petition, started by Liam Mather, currently has 2,026 signatures, a decent showing for a town of around 14,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. SFGATE reached out to Mather but did not hear back before the time of publication.
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The supermarket was an “essential resource” to everyone in Mill Valley, from families to seniors, according to the petition. It argues that the Miller Avenue location was a better outlet than the other Whole Foods in town, located at 731 E. Blithedale Ave., because it offered a superior deli and was not overcrowded, among other reasons, and shoppers also made lasting ties with staff. Hildebrand added that it was far more convenient to most residents because of its walkability.
“It’s a drive away for pretty much everyone,” Hildebrand said. “That parking lot [at the E. Blithedale Whole Foods] will be so crammed, and that store will be so crammed with so many people. The entire neighborhood feeling that the original Whole Foods had does not translate to the bigger market.”
However, much to the chagrin of Mill Valley residents, it does not seem that Amazon is budging on the closure.
“We value our relationship with the Mill Valley community and look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our nearby Blithedale store,” a Whole Foods spokesperson told SFGATE via email. They added that team members of the Miller Avenue store “have transferred to roles at one of our nearby Whole Foods Market locations.”
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The Miller Avenue store was housed in a Quonset hut building, meaning it had a curved roof. Mill Valley officials told the Marin Independent Journal that the Whole Foods lease currently lasts for “several” more years and that they want to find a suitable replacement to take over the building. Hildebrand said she feels that another market definitely needs to replace the Whole Foods at Miller Avenue, but she’s skeptical it will ever happen.
“My bigger fear honestly is that, if the rumor is true and to repair the building was deemed too expensive by one of the richest companies on the planet, then that means a smaller business does not have the hope of going into that space,” Hildebrand said. “Which means my neighborhood, which has been gutted, you know, now has this eyesore and lack of fresh food. I feel it’s just such an affront to the people of Mill Valley.”