Who Is Taking Over St. Helena's Everyday Places This Fall?

At 1115 Main Street, the sign still says Sunshine Foods. The store keeps its usual hours, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and the kitchen grill still closes at 3 p.m. In late September, though, the town's only independent full-service grocery store got its first new owner in roughly half a century. The same thing has been happening up and down Main Street all year. A drive-in corner, two thrift shops, a garden store and several boutiques have each reached the point where their owners had to decide who comes next.

A pattern runs through those decisions. Where a successor stepped in this year, it was usually a family-run business or local residents, and in at least two cases the outgoing owners said that was the point. The shops that had no successor closed.

The Grocer Who Would Rather Have Closed

Jay Smith had already made his terms clear before Sunshine had a buyer. In the St. Helena Star's report on the store going up for sale, he said he would "rather liquidate, pay everybody and walk away with nothing" than run a Sunshine that could no longer be a meaningful part of the community. He described himself, in a grocer's phrase, as "past my expiration date as far as working." He said that if no deal came together by the end of the following year, the store might have to close.

The business reasons he gave the Star were specific. He cited red tape, a smaller local customer base as more homes became second homes, fewer tourists, trouble finding qualified staff, and higher costs for water and other utilities. He said one refrigeration unit alone answers to five government agencies. He also said the store clears about half a percent in profit "if we're lucky." At the time, the store had 85 employees, most of them full time, and Smith said he expected to stay on for six months to a year to help a new owner settle in.

The buyer was Mollie Stone's Markets, a family-owned Bay Area chain the Stone family founded in 1986. It runs eight other stores, including ones in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Sausalito and Greenbrae. Jay and Mike Smith said in a joint statement that it was "extremely important to us to find another family-owned company that shares our values." Owner Elliott Stone told the Star, "We don't view this simply as acquiring a grocery store," and described the deal as being entrusted with a 50-year family legacy.

The new owners have pledged to keep Sunshine's "neighborhood-market character and emphasis on fresh, local and specialty foods." They also plan to invest in improvements, products and services, but so far those are plans, not finished changes. For now, the store a shopper walks into is the one the Smiths built.

A Drive-Thru Corner Goes to a Market From Up the Street

The A&W at 501 Main Street closed on March 31 after nearly 60 years. Its last day ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as the Press Democrat reported. A building like that, on a signalized corner of Highway 29 with the city's only drive-thru, could easily have gone to a national tenant. The drive-thru is a grandfathered right that current zoning would not allow on a new site.

It went to Azteca Market instead, a locally owned family business that paid $3.5 million for the 2,983-square-foot building on a 0.44-acre lot. According to the Napa Valley Register, the seller had interest from national retailers and chose the local family. It is Azteca's first real estate purchase, and the family plans it as a long-term home for the St. Helena market.

So far the plan is on paper. Azteca's own site still lists the St. Helena store at 789 Main Street, a few blocks north. Back in March, SFGATE reported that the family still had city approval hurdles to clear on the property. No move date has been announced, so the 789 Main location is the one to use for now.

Two Thrift Shops That Found New Keepers

The smallest succession this year may matter most to the most people. La Bohème and Act Two, the town's two sister thrift stores, were both slated to close. As Patch reported on Oct. 1, Jennifer Wilken and Oria Goleno reopened them as nonprofit shops through the Goleno-Wilken Foundation. Proceeds go to charitable causes, including Parkinson's programs, and to neighbors in need.

The two shops serve different needs. Patch describes La Bohème as the higher-end shop among the Main Street boutiques. Act Two, off Highway 29, carries more eclectic finds and everyday basics.

• La Bohème: 1428 Main Street, Suite D
• Act Two: 345 La Fata Street

In practice, donated clothing, furniture and housewares still have somewhere local to go, and the money they raise now goes to charity.

On Main Street, a Door Without a Successor Stays Closed

In each case below, the owners chose to retire or to change course, and no one took over the business itself.

Reeds is the most recent. Larry and Fran Heit opened it in 1989, years after starting out selling Birkenstocks in Mendocino. At one point they owned three St. Helena boutiques, Mirabelle, Cricket and Reeds, plus one in Yountville. Everything in the store is 20 percent off. Larry Heit told the Star that the closing date depends on how quickly the stock sells, and the lease runs through the end of October. He also said the pandemic and tariffs had "caused a lot of unknowns into the wholesale world." With this week's publication date, anyone hoping for a final visit has only a few days left in the month.

The Star called Reeds the third longtime St. Helena business to close this year, after Acres and Findings. Co-owners Jim Wickesberg and Cort Schwanebeck announced Acres' closing on April 1 after 14 years, and the Star's report quoted them saying sales were still good. Studio Findings closed May 31 after 26 years. Co-owner Maura Wilson told the Star that she and Renata Campion would focus on their Sobremesa Home brand. She said the landlords had told her in January, while the shop was on a month-to-month lease.

The Acres space did not stay empty. Olivier Napa Valley had set up temporarily in the Wydown Hotel building and planned to move into the former Acres storefront. Its contact page now lists 1219 Main Street, Suite A.

What Arrives Before the Year Ends

The next additions to downtown are being put together now. Some are new businesses and some are long-running traditions.

1. Elsewhere, 1429 Main St. Nick Kokonas and Elliot Bell, the chef-owner of Charlie's, announced this wine bar in March. Bell will run it, with small plates designed to go with wine, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In the Chronicle's Oct. 6 update on Bay Area openings, its opening date was still listed as to be determined.
2. The last farmers' market of the year, Friday, Oct. 30. The St. Helena Farmers' Market closes its 40th season at Crane Park, 360 Crane Avenue, from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
3. Tree lighting, Wednesday, Nov. 25. The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce lists the annual downtown ceremony, with the Beringer Wine Barrel Tree returning, and says more details are coming. On Main Street that evening, Orin Swift holds an after-hours tree-lighting event from 5 to 7 p.m. with cookies, hot chocolate and wine by the glass.

If you own a long-held St. Helena property and are thinking about who should take it on next, Hillary Ryan Group welcomes a private consultation.