Local Business

By Christian Kallen Oakville Grocery Healdsburg, the popular gourmet deli and wine shop at the corner of Matheson and Center streets, announced it would close at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, on Nov. 26. Also closing will be its Wine Merchant shop, which opened...

It’s with an eye toward making the most of that most valuable of assets—parking in Healdsburg—that Mat Humphrey is filling up the available leases on the property at 44 Mills St. one by one, and staggering their prime hours so the lot is productively filled as much as possible. The highest and best use, one might say, to echo the realtor’s mantra.

Here are the latest business openings, closings and other goings-on, from a new place to get a fresh juice or smoothie, a hot old winery and a hot new bakery, plus a new fire station to cool things down if it gets too hot for Healdsburg.

Amy Covin, who parlayed a life-long affection for Boston-style “slush”—a fruity ice confection with drizzles, sprinkles and playful attitude—into a Healdsburg dessert destination, announced over the weekend that she would be closing the flagship shop in early September. “I think we outgrew this facility the...

The owner and operator of Vanity the Salon, a Healdsburg beauty parlor, has moved to a new location, after nearly two years of struggling to keep her business — in an industry particularly hard hit by the pandemic — alive.

Downtown store Erin Mavis branching out by hosting book pop-up shop, launching book club on July 27

There’s an oasis in Healdsburg in an industrial park at the end of Moore Lane, past storage sheds and warehouses toward a dead end. Even though it’s not the kind of place people just happen upon, when they find it they’re not disappointed. Breathless Sparkling...

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a devastating economic toll on Sonoma County’s economy: tourism, once a mainstay, is non-existent; 16,000 local workers have filed for unemployment; more than a thousand small businesses have applied for the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Meanwhile local governments continue to provide essential public health and welfare services, while their normal revenue sources trickle to near-zero.

What makes Healdsburg’s market particularly unique is the continued dominance of non-primary residence purchases. In 2024, 61% of all purchases were for second homes or investment properties, with rural properties showing an even higher rate at 76%. This tracks with 2023 when 64% of properties were purchased as non-primary residences, writes a local realtor.

Being able to collect nutritious food while wearing a t-shirt that is both comfortable and trendy is a win-win for Farm to Pantry. Gapelii Brand, a Sonoma County Black-owned luxury brand, was co-founded by Andrew Akufo in 2019 and features clothing and accessories. Through his work, he met Kelly Conrad, development director from Farm to Pantry. Conrad reached out to Akufo to collaborate and provide T-shirts for volunteers that could feature Gapelii Brand’s style and promote the organization.