Closure of trouble-riddled Whole Foods rocks upscale community as residents fear property prices will plunge

DAILYMAIL.COM ^ | 11 October 2025 | ALEXA CIMINO

[dennisw]

The sudden closure of one of the country's very first Whole Foods stores has rocked the upscale Bay Area town of Mill Valley.

Residents say Amazon has abandoned the beloved neighborhood staple that defined their community for more than three decades and are furious despite there being another store a mile away.

The California store first opened in 1992 and became a local institution where the town's 14,000 residents caught up in the aisles and kids grabbed snacks after school.

But after a rodent infestation and roof repairs forced a temporary shutdown over the summer, locals expected the market to reopen by fall. Instead, Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, pulled the plug, citing high repair costs.

Now the once-bustling market sits behind a chain-link fence, still bearing a 'temporarily closed' sign.

'All of us in the community have supported that store for years and years,' Jana Hildebrand, a Mill Valley resident of 30 years, told SF Gate.

'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.'

Hildebrand said she bought her home in part because of its proximity to the store, a rare convenience in a town known for winding hillside roads.

[OpusatFR]

Food deserts of the liberati...oh the horror.

[Bernard]

So does that mean that the building is available to be converted into an ICE detention center? Somebody in DC should be able to come up with the pocket change needed to buy this abandoned property and start storing illegals in it.

There's always a silver lining. You have to start by looking around clouds, because that's where the silver linings are.

[vespa300]

Whole foods is a whole rip off.

You have to be a moron to shop there. Same Driscoll fruit I get at my Kroger’s only at whole foods, the prices are an insult. Who do they think they are anyways...get outta here.

[arkfreepdom]

My father said one time after relatives from California visited us in Oklahoma “ if things are so great there why are they driving the same car”
I’ve use variations over the years and call it the California car rule.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

So let the locals buy the place, fix it up, and run it themselves.

[libertylover]

Also exclaiming about how much space we had.

Might "complaining about" be a better description than "exclaiming about"?

[Dilbert San Diego]

Well, clearly they have a clientele that supports them.

That’s just capitalism.If they are able to sell the product and make a profit and stay in business.

There was a thread yesterday about Starbucks, and people here wondering how does Starbucks stay in business. It’s the same concept. They have their loyal customers. Even though some say the Starbucks coffee tastes like burnt cigarette ashes, and a cup of coffee costs much more than better coffee at other places, Starbucks has a successful business. That too is just capitalism at work.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Starbucks is going through the same unionization process, with the same results.

[Mariner]

“I have no idea how that chain stays afloat.”

Some people will pay more for superior quality.

Count me among them.

[alternatives?]

There is nothing like a natural rodent infestation that makes me want to shop at a grocery store.

[null and void]

A rat infested whole foods?

Liberals want to shop there.

Figures...

[SaxxonWoods]

Overpriced Grocer closes, panic ensues.

[vivenne]

If only politicians abd govt workers understood this equation. Sigh.

[vivenne]

Is it Molly Stone’s? It’s like Whole Foods. Mill Valley will be fine.

[catnipman]

the DM just had a story about the closure of some Starbucks was gonna cause property values to crash ... now this ... total bullshit of course, but i guess it gets some clicks, which is all that matters these days ...

[Yardstick]

I like your thinking on this, lol

[FamiliarFace]

I don’t remember what it was called. That might be it. You’re right, though. Mill Valley will be FINE.

[1FreeAmerican]

Yeah - There are 4 full size grocery stores in Park City including Whole Foods - which is the only place we can get bone-in chicken breasts.

And the Wife say’s the price is not that much more, and sometimes less with the Amazon Prime discount. Large honeycrisp apples were $1.50 less than the Smiths a while back.

[jimtorr]

......neighborhood staple that defined their community.......Hildebrand said she bought her home in part because of its proximity to the store..........

This is a really stupid "news" story. Whole Foods defined the community? How shallow and vapid is that? Some idiot bought a house because it was near an overpriced "healthy food", small grocery store?

I have used to shop at Whole Foods on occasion, but stopped because they had nothing I wanted that wasn't much cheaper than at Safeway. Oh, and I never saw people "catching up" in the aisles.

[ridesthemiles]

YOU BOUGHT A HOME/PROPERTY DUE TO IT’S PROXIMITY TO A WHOLE FOODS STORE?????????

SOMEONE HAS TOO MUCH $$$$$$$ AND TOO FEW BRAINS

I HEAR MANY COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE OVER 50 STATING THAT THEY MUST LIVE WITHIN 20 MINUTES OF A HOSPITAL——

BUT A GROCERY STORE?????

WHAT A STUPID LIST OF PRIORITIES