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 are upset with Amazon for shutting down a cherished neighborhood grocery store that had been an integral part of their community for over 30 years, even though another store exists just a mile away.

The store in California opened its doors in 1992 and quickly became a vital hub for the town’s 14,000 residents, serving as a place where people socialized and children stopped by for snacks after school.

However, following a temporary closure over the summer due to a rodent problem and necessary roof repairs, locals expected the reopening of the store by the fall. Instead, Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, decided to close it permanently due to the high costs involved in repairs.

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.

“Now, when the community looks for support from a wealthy company, they are choosing to walk away, claiming the repair costs are too steep,” a resident expressed.

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.

The Whole Foods on Miller Avenue in Mill Valley, California, now sits fenced off after closing permanently in late September

Residents of the upscale town are mourning the loss of the store despite there being another Whole Foods just a mile away

Residents have launched a petition urging Amazon to reconsider the closure, calling the market an ‘essential resource’

‘I bought my house 30 years ago in large part because of the walkability to the market,’ she said.

“I have a cottage behind my house that I rent out, and I often highlight its proximity to a lovely park and Whole Foods. While I don’t have any hard data, I feel this might impact my property’s value,” another resident shared.

Meanwhile, a real estate expert told the Daily Mail that this closure isn’t expected to significantly influence property values, with the median house price in the area being just under $2 million according to Zillow.

‘Walking distance to a neighborhood grocery store is nice to have but not a must-have for most buyers,’ Scott Kalmbach, a realtor with Outpost Real Estate in Mill Valley, said. 

‘With another Whole Foods in Mill Valley, the inconvenience with the Miller store closing is minimal from the standpoint of deciding to purchase a home,’ he added.

Kalmbach said that while proximity to stores like Whole Foods can influence desirability, in a luxury market like Mill Valley, the overall prestige of the area outweighs the loss of a single retailer.

‘In a high-end luxury market like Mill Valley, so much of the home’s value is baked into the Mill Valley locale that it’s hard to say how much the one store influences the final sale price.’

A Change.org petition has also been launched by resident Liam Mather and attracted more than 2,000 signatures, calling the store an ‘essential resource’.

The shuttered store, housed in a distinctive Quonset hut building, had served Mill Valley locals for more than 30 years before being deemed too costly to repair

Locals say the shutdown will increase congestion at the town’s only remaining Whole Foods on East Blithedale Avenue

The petition argues that the Miller Avenue location served everyone from families to seniors and was far more walkable and less crowded than Mill Valley’s other Whole Foods, located on East Blithedale Avenue.

‘It’s a drive away for pretty much everyone,’ Hildebrand told SF Gate of the other store. 

‘That parking lot [at the E. Blithedale Whole Foods] will be so crammed, and that store will be so crammed with so many people. The entire neighborhood feeling that the original Whole Foods had does not translate to the bigger market.’ 

Not all residents, however, share the same level of frustration. Some said that while they preferred the smaller, more familiar Miller Avenue store, the closure wasn’t a deal breaker.

‘I’m not outraged about losing one of two Whole Foods,’ Craig Miller, a Mill Valley resident, told Daily Mail. ‘I did like the smaller, more familiar Whole Foods that is shut down, but it had the same 365 brand – the line of affordable everyday items – as the other larger location.’ 

Kalmbach added: ‘Healthy food is very important to people who live in Marin and appreciate a healthy outdoor lifestyle. 

‘For some foodies where they shop can be extremely important, becoming almost a cult-like following, but fortunately there are other options out there for locals in Mill Valley seeking nutritious options for their families.’

A Whole Foods Market spokesperson told Daily Mail: ‘We value our relationship with the Mill Valley community and look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our nearby Blithedale store. 

The average price for a home in Mill Valley is $2 million according to Zillow 

Whole Foods says all employees from the Miller Avenue location have been reassigned to nearby stores

‘All team members have transferred to roles at one of our nearby Whole Foods Market locations. Our stores remain an important part of our growth strategy, and we currently have more than 100 new stores in the pipeline and continuously explore new sites.’

The company confirmed that while the Miller Avenue location had initially closed temporarily in July for maintenance and repairs, further assessments revealed more extensive work was needed than originally anticipated.