In the months since 
Whole Foods indicated that it would close down the Miller Ave. location, a big blow to the Mill Valley food-serving community, there has been a feverish community discussion on the issue.
As the property owner remains steadfast to maintain the space as a local grocery store, Mill Valley’s efforts to find a new grocery tenant at the site of the former Whole Foods Market on Miller Avenue have been temporarily sidelined by Amazon layoffs, according to City of Mill Valley Manager Todd Cusimano.
The city has been working behind the scenes to find a new grocery store tenant for the site. Whole Foods closed the store last summer, citing, in part, the cost of necessary upgrades. The Whole Foods lease lasts for several more years.
The Mill Valley Market was selected by Amazon’s team and their real estate agents from three possible contenders, City Manager Todd Cusimano told the City Council on Monday. Those efforts were interrupted by Amazon laying off 14,000 employees in late October.
“They eliminated two-thirds of the national corporate real estate team,” including the city’s contacts, Cusimano said. “We have to see the dust settle, which is going to take a few weeks to see who is in charge at Whole Foods with real estate.”
Cusimano said the building is sound and ready for a new grocery tenant to move in. “We don’t control it. We don’t have the rights to it,” he said. “But we absolutely have a role in helping and facilitating.”
Nathan Cimbala, a Whole Foods spokesperson, did not return a request for comment. Steven Maxson, a Bay Area real estate agent working for Amazon, declined to comment.
Whole Foods, which is based in Texas, first opened the store at 414 Miller Ave. when it had just 11 locations nationwide. In 2010, it opened a second Mill Valley store at 731 E. Blithedale Ave. The second store remains open.
Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017. They announced the wave of layoffs on Oct. 28. It has about 350,000 corporate employees and a total workforce of approximately 1.56 million, according to the Associated Press. The company also cut 27,000 jobs in 2023.
For over three decades, the store has been more than just a grocery store—it has been a community hub, a place with character, and an essential resource for local families, seniors, and workers. Opened in 1989 as one of Whole Foods’ earliest stores nationwide, the Miller Avenue location still stands out for its welcoming staff, well-stocked shelves, and the quirky, beloved Quonset hut design that gives it soul. Neighbors are deeply concerned about losing this unique store, expressing that the store had a better shopping experience, was cleaner, friendlier, and carried items Blithedale never has. They also appreciated the sense of loyalty, with Miller’s lasting ties to shoppers and staff; many residents say they won’t simply “transfer” to Blithedale but will instead go to Mill Valley Market, Good Earth, or Nugget. Whole Foods risks losing an entire customer base.
Whole foods is in Quonset huts which in 1947 housed the Miller Avenue Shopping Center, one of the largest in California.
Many residents find it hard to believe that Amazon—one of the richest companies in the world—couldn’t afford the necessary building updates. HERE’S THE PETITION. (The petition was not created by the Mill Valley Chamber.)
Mill Valley Mayor Stephen Burke sought to squash the idea that the City obstructed seismic retrofits that were necessary, and made it clear in a statement: “The City regrets the potential closure of the Whole Foods, which is an important community resource. The decision to close, if true, is based on business considerations that the City is not privy to. Further, other than issuing a permit for roof repairs, the City has imposed no further requirements or restrictions upon the property. In fact, this year City Council, the Planning Commission, and City Staff have dedicated themselves to updating and modifying parking, commercial codes, and other regulations with the goal of making the opening and operation of vibrant businesses easier.”
“I understand and deeply value our customers’ strong connection to the Miller Avenue location,” says longtime GM Clarke Pomeroy. I truly appreciate the amazing way that our customers and community have enjoyed and supported our store, and our Team Members. The Chamber has been great in keeping us connected to the local business community and the City of Mill Valley. Our non-profit partners have also been a joy to work with and helped us fulfill our core values of community connection. There really aren’t words to capture my gratitude for everyone’s contribution to the Miller store over these many years.”
Whole Foods Market will continue to be involved with the Mill Vally community from the Blithedale store. “Many of the Miller Team Members are now working there, and you will see their familiar faces when you come in,” Pomeroy says. “The store leadership team is tremendous, and shares the same commitment to the community. I want to express my personal appreciation for the connections we’ve built with our neighbors over the years. The warmth and support of this community have made coming to work each day a pleasure for all of us.”
Benjamin Disraeli said that change is inevitable and change is constant. The Miller chapter is now over, but the Whole Foods story in Mill Valley is not. We will continue to serve the community and build new memories and relationships for the future. While we understand this change impacts some of our customers, we remain committed to serving the Mill Valley community with the quality and service you expect from Whole Foods Market.
At the outset of 2015, the Austin, Texas-based chain had 410 stores throughout the U.K., Canada and 42 U.S. states – including two in tiny Mill Valley alone. Whole Foods on Miller has had many reasons to celebrate over the years, from Whole Foods Miller’s birthday celebrations with live music, plenty of samples and lots of fun, including rave reviews at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce’s at O’Hanlon Center for the Arts at Whole Foods Miller.
As of late 2025, there are 526 Whole Foods Market stores in the United States, with a total of 527 stores across the U.S. and Canada. California has the most locations with 95 stores. Since its debut in 2010, Whole Foods Market’s store in the Alto Plaza center on East Blithedale Ave. has been one of the busiest grocery stores in Marin.
You don’t need to look too hard to learn the history of Whole Foods Market in Mill Valley. As the saying goes, it’s written on the walls – quite literally, in the case of the Miller Avenue store, which has celebrated a number of birthdays over the years, with plenty up interior updates with a comprehensive update of its interior design, laden with its core values and guiding principles, as well as a new store graphics. Those design elements rely on the mountain that so heavily dominates Mill Valley’s landscape, as well as the ocean, bay, lanes and creeks that surround us.
At that time, longtime Miller Ave. Store Manager Clarke Pomeroy said, “We’d always tried to capture the essence of Mill Valley and remind customers of our deep ties to this community, and our connection to the environment around us.
The result has been that the areas within the store tell the stories of Whole Foods itself, utilizing reclaimed wood and design touches to put a fresh face on one of the company’s oldest stores.
In 1991, marketing and sales consultant and organic food devotee Walter Robb, who previously created a health food store in Trinity County called Mountain Marketplace, was looking to open his own store in Mill Valley. He’d signed a lease for 414 Miller Avenue, a 14,000-square-foot, quonset hut-style building that was previously home to butcher shop Jerry’s Meats and some smaller businesses.
As Robb prepared to remodel the space, John Mackey, his longtime friend and the founder of Whole Foods, convinced him within a short period of time, the Whole Foods on Miller Ave. that opened in July 1992 boasted the highest sales-per-square-foot of any Whole Foods in Northern California, and Robb was the company’s president of the Northern Pacific region. In 2010, just weeks before Whole Foods opened its second store in Mill Valley – the nearly 30,000-square-foot space on East Blithedale – Robb became the Whole Foods’ co-CEO with Mackey.
Whole Foods Miller
“You can basically walk the entire store while shopping and get a real feel for what we are passionate about and what we think our shoppers want as well,” says Brownlie Raffaini, one of the the store’s marketing team.
But there have also been some necessary bumps in the road, specifically the City of Mill Valley‘s 18-month, $1.8 million Miller Avenue Streetscape Project, a complete re-imagining of approximately two miles of one of Mill Valley’s two main arteries and far and away the biggest road improvement project the City of Mill Valley has undertaken in decades.
Upon its completion, with help from the Mill Valley Chamber, the City hosted MillerFest, a four-hour celebration of the new Miller Avenue in the public parking lot near Marin Theatre Company and the former Extreme Pizza. The event featured food from Antone’s East Coast Subs, Whole Foods Mill Valley, along with live music from Loose With the Truth, a beer garden from the Chamber and Fort Point Beer Co., a bounce house, a bike decorating content and parade, a bike maintenance station from Tam Bikes, pedicabs from Vanguard Properties and 4Leaf, children’s play from the Marin Theatre Company, nature walks, history walks and much more.“The City is thrilled to celebrate the completion of the streetscape project,” then-Mayor Jessica Sloan said at the time. “Our goals were to create a multi modal thoroughfare that works for everyone, to enhance the commercial area, and to protect the environment, all while staying aligned with Mill Valley’s small town values. As a community we should be exceptionally proud of this accomplishment.”
