The Woodside Bakery and Robert's Market have existed side by side for many years, more than 10 years as far as I know. It is premature to blame the landlord for this close. Please get more information before you put your theory out there. Your blog is more of a disservice than anything else without real information.

Nancy. Than we need to hear from the parties that be. Don't blame the messenger. Sounds like you know more than the rest of us. Do tell.

Weather nancy knows more to your story is not the issue, for you to "name drop" and attach it to a story is unprofessional? I can ask the same to you , laura do you know more that you are not saying? Do tell?

Thanks ron chee. I read the article in the paper, and the blog repeats what has already been reported. The issue was also discussed at length on the Portola Valley Forum, but that info was not shared. The question I pose is one asked by many - why was Woodside Bakery asked to leave, and especially with such short notice during the holidays? Until the company is available for comment, people will continue to ask. Property and business are owned by individuals, but the community that makes them possible is owned by all. I wonder why you wouldn't want to know?

Nancy and ron chee, I adjusted in reply to your comments. Thank you for your input.

Unless the landlord doesn't want to sign a longer-term lease, why would a business decide to go month-to-month? That seems like a recipe to have your business be shuttered when the landlord asks you to leave.

The biggest red flag in this whole situation is a month-to-month lease for seven years. That is akin to the landlord telling you that he no longer wants you and to pack up your bags as soon as you find a better place, or vice-versa. For seven years?? That is not a 'short' notice, and that is what month-to-month means i.e. one month you're in and the other you could be out.

Your commment about Emily Joubert is also odd. They do not seem have the right facilities for serving food to the public. I actually saw them at work twice and wondered how the health department ever gave them a license. And even if for whatever reason they did, it was likely that the bakery or Bucks had a non-compete agreement within the shopping center; thus, requiring the landlord to put a stop to the activity.

The point is that there are many sides to every story, and writers shouldn't be able to write an opinion without having balanced information.

Since when is voicing a concern about a local business seemingly being muscled out of business out of place? The article begs for more information. And the author clearly asks for those in the know to come forward with more info.
Giving a long term tenant 30 days notice seems a bit harsh. No?

Mike on average how many days are in a month? If the tenant is in a month to month lease why would 30 day notice be harsh? What's more comfortable, 60 days? What's the difference G T F O

So sad to see Woodside Bakery leave the town. Would love to understand what made them leave. Jackie

I guess that is not obligatory their decision and the issue is definitely not a lack of customers. Maybe some competitors made them close the cafe.
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Web Link - education topics

I don't know either party personally and don't know anything about this situation other than what was published in the Almanac (I do patronize both the tenants' & the landlord's businesses). What if there's a legit reason for evicting them, and the landlord is being discrete and professional to avoid embarrassing the tenant? As others here have implied, a month-to-month for several years is a powerful message. In any case I'm sorry for those losing their jobs and their business; and for the community losing a great place to gather.

I feel bad for the employees. That's a rough time of year to lose a job!

Can't the Almanac, being a local paper get a better story on this with more details? For one, is it true the Mayfield bakery is opening an additional location as the replacement for the Woodside Bakery? And if true, what do they plan to offer? Might they hire some of the current employees? How about calling them for comment?

Maybe the landlord has a better offer and is going to build a 20 story apartment complex - one narrow apartment per floor! hey, it happens in Redwood City all the time now! UGH

You know what I want to ask - what happened to the front tables at Woodside Bakery that were removed and replaced with nothing? Is there is a secret coffee conspiracy I don't know about - No One Shalt Sit and Drinkith from the Coffee Cup of Woodside?

Have the front tables gone missing? I haven't been in for a bit now. Mark and Jan were forced to remove the chairs from the front seating during the lunch hour as of last year due to (as I understand it) town permit limitations based on their allocation of parking. The spillover (if you'll excuse the pun) of being forced into the chair removal played into their complaint that Emily Joubert had zero sit down service in its permitted parking allocation when Stumptown started its service.

Of course the Bakery would have loved to be able to have provided the front seating all of the time. They tried to argue that the weekend parking overflow was greatly mitigated by the huge percentage of bicyclists that they served, but apparently they did not make any headway.

Putting the landlords name is unprofessional???

Its called stating the facts in an article.

Thats what professionals do.

Why Luke, this is Laura... remember me? You were always good with words.

They stopped a coffee kiosk from going up next door? Sounds like they're going to put in a coffee house later on and they don't want the redundancy.
They wouldn't put a Starbucks there would they? No, that seems too far fetched. Probably a friend of the landlord, or maybe his kid got old enough to run it. It'll be sad to lose a great place like the WB whatever goes in.

A great place for coffee and pastry break after a hard (sort of) bike ride up to woodside from Palo Alto. Good luck and may your dough always rise timely!

A few weeks ago the bakery set its wood shake roof on fire. This did not endear it to its landlord. Subsequently the owner replaced the entire roof with less fire-prone shingles.

Local rumor says the landlord owns the Mayfield Bakery.

George Roberts and Co own Mayfield Bakery? Interesting rumor.

Roberts does NOT own the Mayfield Bakery. The Village Pub and Mayfield Bakery are both owned by the Bacchus Mgmt Group, founded by Woodside resident Tim Stannard.

Guys, the parties are who they are. Why is it name dropping or something to be avoided to leave out a fact. I love shopping at Robert's, but if the Roberts' are the landlords then they are the landlords. And if they are terminating a lease, they are terminating a lease. These are objective facts, not name dropping, suggestive, theories or anything else. The reason has yet to be made public, and maybe it never will be. And lots of businesses and long term tenants go month to month. Yes it's risky but having a charming, local bakery and restaurant is worth the risk given prior course of dealings, local practice etc. I like both businesses, both parties, both families - I really hope whatever is going on can be ironed out. It would be nice to keep the bakery.

If they give us another bakery - I wonder if they'll let us sit down in the next one and drink a cup of coffee?

Mark is a pillar in the community, always willing to help out for local school fundraisers and events. He is ambitious and has wanted to open other businesses in town. His plans have been stopped because of various reasons none of which were for the lack of will power. Everyone in Woodside knows the town is owned by two families and they control the climate of what goes in and what goes out. I suggest Mark re-open "Jan's" in Portola Valley its owned by a great family that lives in town.

"Everyone in Woodside knows the town is owned by two families and they control the climate of what goes in and what goes out." I need to get out more often. If true - what a shame.

People should stop writing about other people or events until they have all the facts,from both sides, of any issue. It is no more than tabloid fodder to tell "part" of a story. Blogging about one side of an issue is gossip.

What a loss. When a landlord allows only month-to-month leases, it is usually because they have plans for developing or selling the property and wants to be able to make changes quickly. Tenants sometimes benefit because their costs are lower than long-term leases, sometimes not. It would be interesting to find out if the tenants knew of any plans before being forced to close.

Oh Ginny, you can't control people's actions no matter how much you want to. Don't you know that? I always find it best not to try and tell others what to do.

Well this has been quite a week. Thanks everyone for your input. It was a pretty civil discussion, even though we have differing opinions. That is much appreciated. This blog will be replaced on Saturday, so speak now, or forever hold your Raspberry Ganache or Slider Buns (my Woodside Bakery faves!)

Terminating a commercial real estate lease usually requires 6+ months notice. As you cam imagine, if a restaurant or bakery needs to move, they need to find a new location, renovate to fit the need, and transfer existing vendor contracts, employees, etc. It can easily take a year to do that, and a substantial amount of money.

It's sad part is they were on a month-to-month for years, which offered them no protection, and a false sense of security.

I sincerely advise any new business (and the other existing local businesses) insist on year long leases, with adequate termination notification periods, depending on the kind of store. Retail can move easier than a restaurant.

That's too bad as, if passing by on 280, that's about the only interesting place worth going in Woodside (am assuming this closing includes the cojoined restaurant, if not, then forget this entire post). The breakfast place is fine but does not stand out compared to competition elsewhere. The Village Pub is not one. The market, whilst good, is no reason to stop. Of course, this could be how the locals like it, none of that South Bay rabble clogging up the place.

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This just in: Woodside Bakery leave by date extended to mid-march. http://www.almanacnews.com/news/2016/01/22/woodside-bakery-leave-by-date-extended-to-mid-march-for-now

Looks like I was right; Web Link

For an update on this story, and more information in the comments
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Thanks Elaine for the update

I wish Larry or one of the other Woodside residents with money would step in and sort this out... what a loss!