Candy Store owner says rent hike forcing closure
Updated: May 26
The Candy Store on Main Street, a staple of downtown Tiburon for nearly three decades, is shutting down by the end of the month, sparking a GoFundMe campaign and protests by residents as owner Jennifer Torres says a 61% rent increase is forcing her out.
Torres said she was “shocked” by landlord A&C Ventures’ December offer that would raise her monthly rent to $6,177 from $3,834. That accounts for a 44% baseline rent increase plus a new fee for building-and-space upkeep. An alternative to avoid the new fee, she said, was a mandatory out-of-pocket investment into building modernizations and renovations she estimated would cost “at least” $15,000-$20,000.
The 33-year-old Tiburon native, who’s worked at the shop for nearly half her life — she started part-time at age 17 before buying it from the retiring owners when she was 24 — said she’s now scrambling to clear out.
“It isn’t just closing The Candy Store. They’re essentially putting me out of business,” said Torres, who added she was expecting to close when she was “very old and ancient” or hand the keys to someone who loves Tiburon and wanted to keep it going. Now she expects to close by April 28.
“There is no time to move it somewhere else” she said. “There is no time to find an investor. There is no time to find anything. … There’s barely time to clean and move and put things into storage.”
Torres said that while she initially thought the increase was a starting point for negotiation, she was told by an A&C-contracted broker that the company wanted to raise the rent to what it considered market rate.
She said she doesn’t buy that response, noting her current monthly rate is $4.50 per square foot, the same as vacant space she researched at Bon Air Center in Greenbrae and more than the $2.75 per square foot for a spot on Fourth Street in San Rafael. Commercial real-estate adviser and researcher Newmark’s quarterly report, released Feb. 8 for the end of 2023, shows average rates countywide are $3.37 per square foot, relatively unchanged since 2019. Torres’ new rate in Tiburon would be $7.25 per square foot with the upkeep fees.
She said she has typically renewed her lease every five years “without much of a problem,” adding that any increases have been tied to inflation. The new lease was for three years, she said, but with the price increase, even if she took it she “would still probably not be able to continue being here … and then I would have lost any money that I invested.”
A&C Ventures founder David Grieve, who operates nearby Squalo Vino and keeps an office above, declined to comment, citing unfamiliarity with the closing.
He referred questions to Robert Brown, A&C’s real-estate vice president and acquisitions director, who declined to comment on the lease offer or the negotiation process, citing tenant confidentiality.
But generally, Brown said, “as leases are signed for new tenants or when old leases expire, we evaluate current market rates to be consistent with other rents in the Tiburon community and similar markets nearby,” something he said is in line with general industry practices.
The Sonoma-based landlord has a large national portfolio, almost exclusively housing big-box retail chains, from Ralph’s and Safeway to Rite-Aid and Walgreens, Taco Bell and Panera Bread, Staples and Office Depot. But in Tiburon, where it sometimes does business as ACV Argo Tiburon LP, its luxury portfolio includes the ferry landing and tenants brought in as part of its “reimagined” downtown, including The Bungalow Kitchen by Michael Mina, Malibu Farm, Petite Left Bank, The Caviar Co. and Cinelounge, among others.
A&C’s president and CEO, SG Ellison, said the company appreciates The Candy Store “for serving the Tiburon community for many years” and remains committed to “offering a mix of vibrant retail and office spaces” downtown.
The Candy Store, which sells ice cream, caramel apples and fudge made in-house at the 7 Main St. storefront, was opened in February 1997 by Klaus and Linda Meinberg, who also owned the now-defunct Sweden House Bakery & Cafe. Torres worked at the treat shop from 2008 to 2013, learning to make the fudge, caramel apples and waffle cones. She returned in 2015 as manager and took ownership that November, telling The Ark in 2016 she hoped to preserve its “old-time candy store, mom-and-pop” feel.
“This is catching me so off guard,” she said last week. “And it’s catching the whole town, in my opinion, off guard.”
Several Tiburon Peninsula business owners and residents responded to a post about the closure on The Candy Store’s Instagram page with disappointment and shock, along with gratitude to Torres for running the store.
“Gone too soon but never forgotten, especially for us parents who watched our kids grow up running into your shop every chance they had,” wrote Darla Fisher, the owner of neighbor Main St. Mercantile. “We appreciate all you have done to make Tiburon a very special community.”
“My kids will be devastated,” Tiburon resident John Corcoran wrote. “Thanks so much for the memories.”
He and son Mason, a Del Mar Middle School seventh grader, later joined an April 21 protest outside the store organized by Tiburon residents Lark Raveche and Mickey Hubbell, where Raveche said most other stores in downtown Tiburon are geared toward adults and are expensive.
The Candy Store has antique toys, fun candy and “always something to look at” for the kids who visit, she said. “And, I mean, really it’s the only store down here that’s just for them.”
After hearing about the closing, she and Hubbell also started a GoFundMe to support Torres and a potential relocation, raising $4,750 as of The Ark’s press deadline. Raveche and her daughter raised just over $500 of that selling cupcakes at Blackie’s Pasture on April 20.
Torres said the money raised can help with funding a deposit for any relocation and getting stuff into storage.
“It’s just incredible to see everybody I’ve ever met in my life come back to see us in the store and, unfortunately, say goodbye,” she said during the protest, which drew about 20 kids and parents.
Del Mar students Charley Woodward, Parker Wheeler, Ellie Torry and Quinn Wheeler led chants such as “Tiburon is a bore without The Candy Store,” while others held signs like “Keep the Candy Store open!”
“It’s a bore because there’s nothing really else to do down here,” Quinn said. “And going to The Candy Store is really fun to hang out with your friends and buy candy.”
Quinn said when she first moved to town, she’d always go to the store, and seeing it close down is upsetting because it’s “such a big part of Tiburon.”
Charley added the group grew up with the store. It leaving “would be a huge bummer to a lot of people,” Charley said.
“If this were a clothing shop or like an art studio, it wouldn’t bring as much spice to this town,” Mason said.
Dad John Corcoran said in a follow-up Instagram post that it was “a good opportunity to teach my kids about standing up for something that you believe in.”
Other residents have said they planned to start a letter-writing campaign to town and landlord.
Torres, who now lives in San Rafael, said she will miss connecting with the local community, noting that former employees will often stop by the store when they’re visiting Tiburon from college or will introduce their spouses and children.
“I want the town to know that I have loved being a part of the community, and that the store has loved being a part of their lives,” she said.
While she said she is sad the store won’t be there anymore, she hopes customers take “that nostalgia of walking into this place” to other places.
“I hope if people miss the store, they’ll bring that sweetness into their life every day and find the joy in the situation — even the bittersweet situation, because this is one of those,” Torres said. “I’m glad we were here.”
Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634.
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