Downtown San Rafael has the honor of being the largest main street retail location in Marin County. Fourth Street is the commercial and retail heart of the city and contains an eclectic mix of retail stores, eateries and services, together with civic, cultural and entertainment uses. 
The retail profile of the downtown area is diverse and constantly changing. 
Fourth Street provides the start-up retailer with a decent amount of pedestrian traffic at rents that are reasonable by Marin standards. 
Some retailers get the right recipe and survive, while others fail. 
The downside to Fourth Street is that it can be a bit sleazy, mostly at the eastern end near the freeway and the bus station. 
Fast food restaurants and Hispanic convenience stores cluster around this end of the street. 
Think seedy bars, tattoo artists and “massage” parlors, clustered along Fourth and the adjacent side streets and on the upper levels above the stores. 
There is plenty of (metered) car parking, both on-street and in a couple of garage structures on the south side.
At "A" street is Courthouse Square, where two large office buildings are set back from the road behind a grassy square. 
Next to the square is San Rafael Town Center, which includes a 5-storey apartment and office development that was built around two years ago. It also has restaurants on the street level set around an outdoor area called the City Plaza. This area seems to be the busiest part of the strip, although there are still a few vacant stores on either side of the street. 
Further west the vibe changes. There are restaurants, some with outside seating, a few boutiques, antiques and home furnishing stores. It’s almost genteel. 
Many shoppers on Fourth Street are local residents and workers. Others visitors come from elsewhere in Marin to shop at specific well-known stores, such as Scandinavian Designs or the Bike Shop. 
I’m guessing that there are quite a few browsers as well. If you haven’t been there for a while, I would recommend a visit. 
There are many independent stores that you won’t find elsewhere in Marin. I didn’t have enough time on my visit to go in all the stores, so I’ll be heading back soon. 
This time I’ll schedule my visit around lunchtime to sample a meal at one of the restaurants.
The retail profile of the downtown area is diverse and constantly changing. Fourth Street provides the start-up retailer with a decent amount of pedestrian traffic at rents that are reasonable by Marin standards. Some retailers get the right recipe and survive, while others fail. The downside to Fourth Street is that it can be a bit sleazy, mostly at the eastern end near the freeway and the bus station. Fast food restaurants and Hispanic convenience stores cluster around this end of the street. Think seedy bars, tattoo artists and “massage” parlors, clustered along Fourth and the adjacent side streets and on the upper levels above the stores. There is plenty of (metered) car parking, both on-street and in a couple of garage structures on the south side.At "A" street is Courthouse Square, where two large office buildings are set back from the road behind a grassy square. Next to the square is San Rafael Town Center, which includes a 5-storey apartment and office development that was built around two years ago. It also has restaurants on the street level set around an outdoor area called the City Plaza. This area seems to be the busiest part of the strip, although there are still a few vacant stores on either side of the street. Further west the vibe changes. There are restaurants, some with outside seating, a few boutiques, antiques and home furnishing stores. It’s almost genteel. Many shoppers on Fourth Street are local residents and workers. Others visitors come from elsewhere in Marin to shop at specific well-known stores, such as Scandinavian Designs or the Bike Shop. I’m guessing that there are quite a few browsers as well. If you haven’t been there for a while, I would recommend a visit. There are many independent stores that you won’t find elsewhere in Marin. I didn’t have enough time on my visit to go in all the stores, so I’ll be heading back soon. This time I’ll schedule my visit around lunchtime to sample a meal at one of the restaurants.
I’ve also assumed that the Safeway at Pacheco Plaza will not be replaced by a supermarket, but if one were to open it would really struggle to establish itself in this market.
Originally opened in 1964, the center was owned by the University of California until 2004, then sold and redeveloped. Safeway expanded its store by 15,000 sq.ft and a new main street and plaza were added. The design is Tuscan-inspired, which means red tiled roofs, lemon trees, terracotta pots, oak beams and one or two towers and false turrets in shades of yellow and burnt umber.
Other eateries at the center include the ever-popular Thep Lela Thai, Harmony, which specializes in Dim Sum, High Tech Burrito, Pasta Pomodoro, Sushi Gourmet and Rain Tree Café. At the southern edge of the center are In-N-Out Burger and Round Table Pizza. 
There are two separate parts to Strawberry Village. The northern part is the largest section and contains Safeway and all of the remodeled components. The southern part is smaller and comprises mostly financial and professional services. 
Ideal Stationers is an old-style office supplies store that has been at the center forever and is worth seeking out at the southern end of the center for its eclectic merchandise. 
The most visible new store at the center is 
Other stores that are long term tenants at Strawberry include Wolf Camera, Arch Rival, which has a strong following as the place to go to get tennis shoes professionally fitted. 
Among the newer stores the common theme is catering to the higher end of the market. Given that the local market is affluent Tiburon & Mill Valley, this is a sensible approach. 
Nicole Gray & Co. mixes beauty products with gifts and homewares. Other new stores that seem to have found their niche include 
The adjacent Monkey Business toy store stocks quality products of the kind that all parents would want to buy for their kids if they had the budget. 
Stores that always seem to be busy include Starbucks, New York Bagels (aka the slowest bagel store in the west) and Woody’s frozen yoghurt place. 
Other stores always seem to be empty, especially the poorly-located Jos A Banks, which sits by itself at the back of the center. 
Safeway is usually very busy. It was remodeled in 2005 to the latest "lifestyle" format and extended to include bonus services, such as the pharmacy and hot food counter. 
In addition, some 12-13 specialty shops form a U-shape around the car park.
