Upfront
Local news, information and analysis
Grocer to bring Berkeley flavor to Alma Plaza Miki’s Farm Fresh Market plans to open at plaza in July 2012 by Gennady Sheyner ans of the popular Berkeley Bowl supermarket will have plenty to smile about when Palo Alto’s newest grocery store opens its doors next year. Michael Werness, a former manager at Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market (both in Berkeley), unveiled on Wednesday his plan to open a
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store at Alma Plaza in south Palo Alto. Werness, who goes by “Miki,� said the new store will be much like Berkeley Bowl in that it will focus on organic and sustainable products and carry produce, fish, meat and all other supermarket staples. The main difference will be the size. At 19,000 square feet, Miki’s
Farm Fresh Market, as the new store will be called, will be about half the size of Berkeley Bowl. Werness said that while the store will feature a wide selection of premium organic items, it will focus on keeping the prices down for customers. “Variety will be outstanding,� Werness said. “And it’ll be sustainable. People will know where everything comes from.� He said he plans to listen to the community and try to accommodate
customers’ needs by bringing in the types of products they suggest. Werness, 64, has been involved in the food industry for nearly half a century. He began as a bag boy in a San Jose market when he was 15 years old. He worked in a wide range of grocery stores after that, including in South San Francisco, Palo Alto and Menlo Park, before ending up in Berkley Bowl, a renowned market that opened in 1977 in a former bowling alley and relocated into a larger location in 1999.
Werness had spent about 11 years at Berkeley Bowl, where he helped stock its main store upon its relocation. He then spent another nine years as manager of the Monterey Market, another Berkeley grocer that focuses on sustainable products. Werness’ decision to bring a store to Alma Plaza provides a huge lift for the controversial development, which was the subject of dozens of heated public meetings and intense community (continued on page 8)
CITY HALL
Firefighters blast labor measure Union opposes city’s effort to strike bindingarbitration provision from City Charter by Gennady Sheyner
answer yet.� While downtown Palo Alto retail has struggled with high turnover and falling rents in recent years, the market for office space is white hot, landlords and brokers said. “The vacancy in office space is almost nil right now,� said Fred Thoits, president of Thoits Bros., Inc. and a major downtown landlord. “There’s been a lot of money flowing into venture capital. Startups are scrambling, and they want to be downtown because they’re attracting a workforce that wants to be downtown. Thoits said office rents have spiked
or the second straight year, Palo Alto voters will find themselves in the midst of a heated labor battle between their elected officials and the city’s firefighters. In a dramatic 5-4 vote, the City Council decided on Monday night to give residents a chance to repeal a local law that empowers an arbitration panel to settle labor disputes between the city and its public-safety unions. The narrow vote came after a long debate and a surprising swing vote by Vice Mayor Yiaway Yeh. Council members Karen Holman, Greg Scharff, Pat Burt and Greg Schmid also voted to place the repeal on the ballot. The drive to repeal the 1978 provision is already facing intense opposition from the firefighters union, which issued a statement Wednesday calling it “another attack on the basic rights of workers.� “Palo Alto is no Wisconsin,� union President Tony Spitaleri said in a statement, referring to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to take away the collective-bargaining rights of state employees. “Unlike the City Council, Palo Alto voters value fairness,� he said, adding that he expects the repeal to be rejected. Last year, the union sponsored a ballot measure that would have frozen the staffing levels in the Fire Department and required Palo Alto to hold an election any time it wanted to reduce staff or close fire stations. Voters overwhelmingly
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Veronica Weber
A steel giant rises Artist Richard Serra’s huge, maze-like sculpture — 13 feet tall, weighing 235 tons — is installed on the north side of the Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford University campus Thursday, with Tom Seligman (lower left corner), art center director, watching. Named “Sequence,� the 2006 sculpture resembles a pair of interlocking figure eights that viewers can experience from inside and out, as well as aerially from a terrace.
BUSINESS
Downtown without Borders: retailers, brokers ponder the future Palo Alto office market is hot while retail has struggled, landlords say by Chris Kenrick ith the demise of Borders bookstore, an anchor of downtown Palo Alto, retailers lamented the loss of a gathering spot and real estate brokers speculated on who might fill the void. Surviving local booksellers refused
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to admit much satisfaction in the failure of their outsized competition. “We’re all very sad when we see the demise of booksellers anywhere,� Keplers General Manager and Children’s Buyer Antonia Squire said. “It really is indicative of the state of
consumerism right now. It’s not that people aren’t reading, but it’s where they’re choosing to put their dollars — outside the community. “When a bookstore goes away, is there anything that replaces it? That’s the question, and we’re not sure of the
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