The New Local Faces at Montgomery Village, and the One That Left

Montgomery Village's biggest 2026 openings were national names. Apple opened in January, followed days later by Blue Bottle Coffee, then L'Occitane, Kendra Scott and a facial spa, with Madewell listed as next. The local side of the center turned over too. The locally owned businesses that arrived this year are new concepts, and at least one came to the center because the landlord asked. The boutique with the longest local run left in June because, in its owner's words, there was no space for it. In September, the center listed Palmetto Superfoods, an açaí chain from San Francisco, as coming to that same storefront.

A 1950 Center Under a 2021 Owner

The Codding family opened Montgomery Village in 1950 with 13 businesses. Boston-based WS Development bought the 280,000-square-foot center in 2021 for a reported $93 million, as The Press Democrat recounted in June. The first wave of tenants under the new owner included Sweetgreen, Mendocino Farms, Vuori and Bluemercury.

In that same June report, a center spokesperson said 22 businesses at the Village were locally owned, naming Copperfield's Books, Sonoma Bagel and Deli, and Made Local Marketplace among them. At that point 13 of the center's 69 storefronts were vacant. That vacancy count is a June snapshot, and several of those spaces have filled since. The ratio still matters, though: roughly one storefront in three was local by the center's own count. Who fills the empty spaces decides whether that share holds.

The Year So Far, Opening by Opening

Apple opened Jan. 23 after closing its Santa Rosa Plaza store, as The Press Democrat reported, and the center described the move as part of its higher-end repositioning. Blue Bottle opened at 701 Village Court on Monday, Jan. 26. L'Occitane's 935-square-foot store at 2360 Magowan Drive sits between Sweetgreen and Wild Honey Mercantile. Face Foundrié started taking bookings May 6 and held its grand opening May 9. Kendra Scott held its grand opening June 5.

One planned opening never happened. Sprinkles had been set to open a cupcake shop at the center, but the chain announced on New Year's Eve that it was closing all of its stores.

How Olives & Agave Got Its Room

The 909 Village Court space had been Cascabel, a Mexican restaurant that Maher Fakhouri helped launch. After Cascabel closed, the space sat empty for more than a year. Then the Montgomery Village landlord approached Fakhouri, and he pitched a Mediterranean restaurant, according to Sonoma Magazine's October profile. Olives & Agave opened in early October. Mond Noor is the general manager, and Fakhouri's partner, Amal Dahdal, runs the kitchen.

The menu draws on the food of Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Israel and Lebanon, plus Mediterranean dishes from Spain and Greece to Turkey and Morocco. Fakhouri told Sonoma Magazine the cuisine "is not well represented here." Dahdal grew up in Syria and has the final say on every family recipe. In her words, "I'm the picky one." Regulars of the old room should know there is no full bar now, and tequila drinks are no longer on the menu. The restaurant is a few steps from Crepevine, which shares its general manager and a fondness for chicken shawarma.

Back in January, the center announced Olives & Agave as a first location going in between Ross Dress for Less and Lucky Supermarket on the Hahman Drive side. So the restaurant is locally owned and brand new, and it went into a space the center was actively trying to fill. That is the pattern among this year's local arrivals.

The 30-Year Shop Still Looking for a Home

Bird's Nest went the other way. The boutique began in a front yard in Bodega, moved into Montgomery Village in 1995, and had already relocated once within the center, in 2022. Owner Jan Cheek told The Press Democrat that her lease was ending and the shop would close at the end of June. "I would stay if they had a place. But there's not a space available," she said. She described her relationship with the center's general manager as positive. WS Development said in a statement that Bird's Nest would be missed and that the company remains "focused on bringing in tenants that reflect the community."

Cheek said she hoped to keep Bird's Nest local, "without this being something else for people to be sad about," and pictured the next shop as "part boutique, part maker's workshop." The shop's website still calls the move a work in progress and asks customers to stay tuned.

Palmetto Superfoods is taking over the former Bird's Nest space at 525 Hahman Drive. The chain was founded in San Francisco by Charles Lee and serves Brazilian açaí bowls and smoothies. This will be its first North Bay location, and the center listed it as opening "soon" in September.

Where the Local Count Is Coming From Now

If the share of local storefronts holds, it will come from businesses like these:

• Great Company is a dinner-party shop selling serveware and table pieces, started by the founders of Reed + James Events. The center lists it as now open.
• Made Local Marketplace moved to a new location at 424 Farmers Lane. The center's January announcement described the move as an expansion.
• Olives & Agave is the one restaurant on the center's 2026 list that its spokesperson described as locally owned.

Not every new name fits neatly into a local or national category. Rowan, which celebrated its opening Oct. 17 at 2415 Magowan Drive, is described by the center as mom-founded and women-led, with ear piercing done by licensed nurses. Cabuya Yoga + Fitness was listed for an October opening.

Ananda Sweet, CEO of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber, called locally owned businesses "the backbone of our community." She also told The Press Democrat that "a strong retail economy really does depend on both local businesses and the national brands," and that the mix at the Village is a big part of its success. This year's openings show what that mix looks like on the ground. The national brands arrive as finished concepts. The local ones are increasingly new ventures from people already in the community, such as an events company or a veteran restaurateur, set up for the spaces the center has open.

A Walk Through the New Village, Street by Street

The new tenants are spread across the center, so it helps to go street by street:

1. Farmers Lane. Apple is at 720 Farmers Lane and Made Local Marketplace at 424.
2. Magowan Drive. L'Occitane is at 2360, a few doors from Sweetgreen, and Rowan is at 2415. Beach by Everything But Water was announced for a space across from Warby Parker, with no opening date given in January.
3. Midway Drive. Face Foundrié is at 2420, next to Club Pilates.
4. Village Court. Blue Bottle is at 701 and Olives & Agave at 909, the second facing the Hahman Drive side near Lucky.
5. Hahman Drive. Palmetto Superfoods is going into 525, the former Bird's Nest.

Madewell is listed as coming soon, with no date posted.

For a holiday errand that also supports a local shop, Made Local Marketplace has scheduled two Saturday workshops this month: Holiday Herbal Gift Making on Nov. 7 and a Personalized Holiday Ornament Workshop on Nov. 21. Check the center's tree lighting, Santa visits and holiday hours on the Montgomery Village events page before you go, since last year's schedule may not carry over.

Changes at a center like Montgomery Village show up in nearby neighborhoods too, in where people walk to, where they meet for coffee, and what a few blocks of east Santa Rosa feel like on a Saturday. If you'd like to talk through how those changes figure into a move, a sale, or simply staying put, Joe Henderson is glad to share what he's seeing. Let's Connect.