Fresh & Easy to Open at The Cove Tiburon

It has been a long time coming, but at last a new tenant has signed up for the space vacated by DeLano's at The Cove Shopping Center in Tiburon. And it's a new grocer for Marin, too.  Fresh & Easy is the US offshoot of British supermarket giant Tesco, and has been steadily opening stores and spreading across California and beyond for the last five years.


The Marin IJ asked the obvious question of whether the retailer was thinking of pursuing any other Marin locations:

In addition to the Tiburon site, Fresh & Easy is pursuing a former DeLano's site in the Mission district of San Francisco, one of five Bay Area DeLano's stores — including Tiburon and Tamalpais Valley — that closed in late 2010. Wonnacott would not confirm whether the company is interested in the Tamalpais Valley site. "We're looking at other sites in Marin County but nothing specific to speak of at this point," he said. "Any time something becomes available and it's in an area we'd like to get a store in, we'll take a look at it," he added.

With Peets approved to open in the old Blockbuster store, the future suddenly looks a lot better for Sweet Things, Hearts & Flowers and the other tenants at the center who have had to survive the last couple of years without an anchor store.

Marin retail sales bounce back

After dragging along in a recessionary style for much of the year, retail sales in Marin got a very welcome boost upwards at the start of the holiday season. Distributions of the 1% sales tax to Marin's cities increased sharply to just over $3.2million in December, the highest monthly total since February 2008.

Nordstrom approved for 17,000 sf expansion

The Town of Corte Madera has approved Nordstrom's plans for a 17,000 square foot expansion of it's store at The Village Corte Madera. The expansion will occur largely within the footprint of the existing store, which will be reconfigured to provide approximately 64,000 sf over 2 levels. The store currently has 70,000 sf on the first level and 40,000 sf on the upper level.

At the other end of The Village, Macys is working on plans to expand by approximately 20,000 square feet.

New CVS in Tiburon

Construction in progress on the new CVS in Tiburon. 

Peets eyes Tiburon for new store, while CVS pushes forward

Peets Coffee and Tea has received planning approval for a new store in the Cove Shopping Center in Tiburon. The coffee shop will take the space previously occupied by Blockbuster. Retailers at the local shopping center have been struggling since the departure of first DeLano's market and then Blockbuster video earlier this year.

While Peets will draw a lot more traffic to the center, the news is double-edged for Sweet Things bakery, which has a robust coffee business, and Hearts and Flowers, which also sells coffee. As reported in the IJ:

Marsha Laske, who has co-owned Sweet Things for nearly 35 years, said coffee represents about 15 percent of her business, but she worries Peet's could also cut into her sales of baked goods. "I would not think it would be so good for either of us, quite frankly, when you have a very small population in a very small area where you have two businesses that are almost identical," Laske said.

Meanwhile, in downtown Tiburon, the new CVS drug store is moving forward, though not without ruffling the feathers of a few local residents, who are objecting to the store's large illuminated sign. As reported in the Ark:

More than 125 Belvedere and Tiburon residents have signed a petition demanding that CVS/pharmacy not be allowed to have a large, illuminated plastic marquee sign above the store.
The online petition drive was launched by Marcia McGovern of Belvedere, who earlier expressed her ire over the town's decision to allow CVS to remove the row of mature stone pine trees along their Beach Road and Tiburon Boulevard frontage.
"A 21-foot-long and 3-foot-high illuminated, red plastic, 'marquee' sign … is not in keeping with the small-town character and charm of Tiburon and should not be allowed," her petition language reads.

Disgruntled residents aside, the town of Tiburon can't wait to get these new stores up and open. Tiburon has by far the poorest performing retail sector in Marin County, with sales tax revenues down 38% since 2008.

Marinwood Market opens for business

There's something very satisfying about the opening of a new locally owned business. And when that business is a supermarket in these times of economic uncertainty and chain store dominance it's even more satisfying.

Marinwood Market is not a totally new business - it's actually a transplant of the old Boardwalk Market in Tiburon. But it's a new location and a new larger 15,000 sq.ft store for the owners and the transplanted staff.

It takes many years for a grocery store to establish its reputation and customer loyalty in a new location, but the Marinwood Market can count on a lot of good will from the local community, which has been without a local market for more than five years since Marinwood Plaza's Bell Market closed.

More photos of the new store and the renovation are on the store's Facebook page.

As can be seen from these photos, the new store is bright and spacious and fairly well stocked, with just a few gaps still waiting to be filled. The produce and deli sections are modest but nicely presented and appropriate for a store of this size.

When I visited the store was quiet - but it was a midweek afternoon, so no surprise.

Overall a great improvement from two years ago, when it seemed the Plaza would never recover.

Marin Gateway Shopping Center lands a buyer (really this time)

The San Francisco Business Times reports that the Gateway shopping center in Marin City has been sold to an affiliate of the Gerrity Group for $36 million. The center was sold by the Bay Area Council, and was previously reported as sold to a joint venture between Developers Diversified and BIG Shopping Centers, although this sale failed to finalize.

From the SFBT:

"Gerrity Group was formed to acquire well-located shopping centers where it can add value and create additional quality by investing in capital improvements, operations and management," (Dan Wald of Cassidy Turley) said in a statement.
A year ago, reports surfaced that a joint venture of The BIG group, an Israeli company, and Developers Diversified, a U.S. real estate investment trust, were going to buy Marin Gateway for $36 million. The property was first put up for sale in April 2010.
Wald said that BIG put out its press release about the deal while still in the due diligence phase, and that Developers Diversified chose not to move forward with the deal after the due diligence.
"That was unfortunate, because (BIG) announced the price, and that created a ceiling," Wald said

Congratulations to the new owners. They have a little work to do to lease up several remaining vacant stores.