Paradise Foods opens (partly)

Took a quick look at the new Paradise Foods market, which quietly opened its doors last week at Pacheco Plaza. The "soft" opening was no doubt engineered to get their staff and systems fully functioning before the official grand opening, November 2.

The photos below show that the store has the wooden floors and shelving units that will look familiar to fans of the original Paradise Drive market. Also present are the deli counter with gourmet sandwiches at $6-$7, and the well-stocked meat and fish counters, which were getting the most attention from the small number of shoppers in the store.

Another hallmark of Paradise Foods is their range of prepared foods and meals, which are made on site. Lots of these to choose from, including salads, burritos, meat and rice dishes. prices range from $7 for a meal for one, through to $35 for a party-sized lasagna.

The Pacheco store is much bigger than the Corte Madera Store, so the aisles are wide, and there are open spaces at each side of the store and plenty of room around the checkouts. Some of the shelves are also empty, though we'll assume they'll be fully stocked by the time of the official opening next week.

As for Pacheco Plaza itself, the remodel is coming together, with nice landscaping and new shading that's brought the center into the 21st century. The photos I took last year look like they came from the 1970s. What they need now is a few more new specialty stores to breathe some new energy into the mix.

Oh, and is it too late to do something about that huge electricity pylon...?

Weekly news update

A few stories from around the County this week...

DeLano's in Tam Valley is to get its own Post Annex.

The Marin Store is a new on-line store promoting food, fashion, art etc created in Marin, or made by companies based in Marin.

Peet's proposed new outlet in Sausalito has to pass the "no chains" rule that blocks formula retailers from locating on the waterfront.

Restoration Hardware relaunched it's Corte Madera store last week with a cocktail reception. The store shall be know from here on as something like The Gallery at Restoration Hardware. To emphasize the point, they've hung curtains outside the entrance (see photo). The merchandising matches Resto's recent strategic decision to position themselves at higher price points, and the store has some impressively huge sofas, industrial chic tables and massive metal floor lamps. There's also a new children's section.

Finally, as the opening of the new Paradise Foods at Pacheco Plaza draws near (planned for November 2), I couldn't help but notice a very candid quote in the IJ from the owner, David Gilmore, who said of the new store, "I had been kind of talked into doing this at the start". And while he "feels really good about it now", let's hope the people of Novato feel good about paying top dollar for the store's premium product.

Paradise in Pacheco

Good news week continues with the announcement that Paradise Foods will open it's second Marin store at Pacheco Plaza later this year. Paradise, aka "Marin's most extraordinary market", has a strong following at it's existing store in Corte Madera, which opened in 2001, where the gourmet selection includes a large range of prepared meals, pre-cooked in the store's kitchen.

According to the Marin IJ, Pacheco Plaza owner John Kieckhefer chose Paradise Foods over other potential tenants because customers wanted a gourmet grocer. Said Paradise Foods' Mel Gilmour:

"We had looked at other sites a while ago, then decided we weren't going to expand," Mel Gilmour said. "But when that one became available we felt like it was a good location for us. It's a market we could do well in. We see it as a good fit with the whole place being redeveloped and fixed up."

So is this an inspired move by Paradise Foods, opening their second store in an established center, far enough from their existing store not to compete, but in a region where they already have some knowledge of the market and where they have a good reputation?

Or is it a risky adventure, choosing to expand at a time when most retailers are cutting back their plans for new stores, and going head to head with a new full-range Safeway store and with the prospect of a new Whole Foods opening in downtown Novato?

The huge risk that I see is in the customer demographics. Gourmet markets like Paradise Foods, Mollie Stones, and Woodlands require affluent consumers, and there aren't as many of these in Northern Marin. Average incomes in Novato were $82,000 in 1999, compared to $112,000 in Corte Madera and $200,000 in Tiburon.

Affluent consumers do exist in Novato (2,077 households in Novato had incomes above $150,000 in 1999, compared with just 1,438 households in Tiburon), so there is potential demand for an up-market grocer. But can Paradise Foods get those Novato customers to drive past Whole Foods to visit their store in Ignacio? That, I think, will be difficult.

*update: news release

Weekend news roundup

Construction update at Pacheco Plaza.

City of Mill Valley online survey asks residents and businesses what can be done to aid retailers in the city.

Video of the public meeting about the proposed redevelopment of Marinwood Village. Marin Maven gives a first hand account.

Mill Valley Market grows its own organic food.

Pacheco Plaza renovations continue as hunt for anchor gets close

According to the Marin IJ, the owners of Pacheco Plaza are close to announcing the new anchor tenant of their refurbished Ignacio shopping center, and if the reports are true, it looks like it's going to be "one of the best upscale markets in the Bay Area".

But which grocer will it be? Woodland Market? Andronicos? Mollie Stones? Or maybe the Boardwalk Market that is scheduled to lose its Tiburon lease in 2 years? A few other potential candidates not already in Marin are Draegers, Bristol Farms, Napa's Oakville Grocery perhaps?

There are plenty of candidates but also plenty of hurdles to get over before that lease is signed. The biggest Safeway in the county has recently opened half a mile away at Hamilton, and the county's biggest Whole Foods is under construction in Novato. Oh, and we're also in the middle of the biggest drop in consumer spending in living memory.

But let's hope a deal gets done and the owner's investment in upgrading the Plaza pays off.

Hamilton Marketplace nears completion

Grosvenor's 95,000 sq.ft Hamilton Marketplace is signing up more tenants as it nears completion. The neighborhood center will be anchored by a 55,000 sq.ft Safeway and supported by a range of local and chain retailers, including Peets Coffee, Jamba Juice and Wells Fargo. According to the IJ, three eateries have also signed up: Toast Cafe, La Boulange and Sonoma Latin Grill.

Meanwhile, across Highway 101, Pacheco Plaza is set to commence its redevelopment. The center's owners have received full planning permits to revive the tired mall, which is losing its anchor Safeway to the Hamilton development. No news yet on whether a replacement has been signed up, although the Pacheco Playhouse has been warned that it may be evicted in order to make way for a drugstore.

Pacheco Plaza

In Ignacio, just south of Novato, is one of my favorite Marin shopping centers: Pacheco Plaza. This local grocery-anchored center was built in 1967 by the Kieckheffer Company and is still owned by the family. I love it simply for the architecture, which has something modern and typically Californian about it – it’s the shopping center equivalent of an Eichler house. The entrance to the center is framed by the Bank of Marin and West America Bank, with the latter having a neat drive-through tucked under its slanting roof that looks like an upturned planter. The other key elements that I like are the stylish monument sign and the big red Safeway signs on the supermarket. Alas for poor old Pacheco, those big red “S” logos won’t be there for much longer. A gleaming new Safeway in steel and glass is growing out of the ground at Hamilton on the eastern side of 101. In a matter of months the Pacheco store will close, the customers will disappear and the specialty shops will exit.
But of course the Kieckhefers are not going to give up without a fight. After forty one years service to the community they're ready to re-model, re-brand and re-launch! Behold the Pacheco Lifestyle Village! Plans have been submitted and approved. Architects drawings portray ultra-trendy shoppers loaded with full shopping bags and sipping lattes in the sun outside brightly-lit shops. Ah... the dream lifestyle.
I wish them luck and I think they might need it. Lucky Novato-area shoppers will soon have new full size Safeway and Whole Foods markets, as well as the recently-opened Trader Joe’s. Competing with that will be tough, especially with a new Safeway just across the freeway.

But I will certainly miss the old center. Can we at least keep the monument sign? The City wants to replace it with one that is up to code - i.e. no more than six feet tall, like this one at Novato Fair. Yuk!