Will miss Marshalls

Changes at Town Center

Bookstore giant alarms fans of small bookseller
Jim Staats

Concerned a big, new Barnes & Noble bookstore could out-muscle Book Passage, a group of Corte Madera residents has launched a campaign aimed at protecting the independent bookseller.  Although the manager of the Town Center shopping mall in Corte Madera has declined to name the new tenant of the space being vacated by Marshalls department store, rumors are rife that Barnes & Noble will occupy the site - about a block south of Book Passage.

Barnes & Noble spokesmen have declined to comment, which hasn't exactly stopped the rumor mill.

"I've never seen people in this town so upset," said Pat Ravasio, a 15-year resident.  She said she has received more than 50 e-mail messages from concerned residents over the past few days.  "I said to the Town Council Tuesday night, they are going to end up being besieged by residents to bail out Book Passage, because the economics are going to force it out of business if this goes through," she said.

Marshalls, which had been in the shopping center for 20 years, closed its doors this month when center management chose not to renew its lease. Stan Hoffman, manager of Town Center, said Marshalls did not draw enough customers interested in shopping at other mall stores, and that the new tenant would be "a more appropriate use" for the center and draw customers day and night.

He said a lease has been signed with the new tenant, but he said an agreement with the tenant precludes an announcement at this time. He said only that "we're replacing a national (chain store) with a national chain," and that the new tenant would move in later this year.  "My understanding is that citizens were told by somebody that if they apply enough pressure on Town Center no lease would be signed," Hoffman said. "We've already signed the lease with the new tenant."

Barnes & Noble occupies a 10,000-square-foot store in the Cost Plus Plaza in Greenbrae, across Highway 101, less than half a mile from Book Passage, at 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. in Corte Madera.  The new tenant moving into the Marshalls space at Town Center will occupy 27,000 square feet, Hoffman said.  Judy Petersen, manager of the Barnes & Nobles store in Greenbrae, would only confirm she has heard rumors about a possible move. 

Corte Madera Mayor Jin Yang said he couldn't confirm the Barnes & Noble move because "the center has not released the official information as yet."  "At this time, we as a city, there is nothing we can do to stop or make any suggestion" about what might occupy the Marshalls site, Yang said. "It is purely a business decision in the private sector. We are not in authority to do anything about it."  But, he noted, "the nature and atmosphere between Barnes & Noble and Book Passage is totally different. I hope that if they (Barnes &
Noble) come in there will be no impact."

Dr. Konnilyn Feig, a 20-year Corte Madera resident, told the Town Council Tuesday she opposes a possible big, new Barnes & Noble. She said she is so upset she plans to petition the council to review the town's general plan at the next meeting.  "The thing most compelling is the enormous service provider that Book Passage has been to the community," Feig said. "I had about six or seven people who were at the meeting for another purpose come up to me afterwards saying they were disturbed to hear the news and asked what they can do."

Ravasio said she talked by phone Monday with Amer Hammour, the CEO of Town Center property management firm Madison Marquette Retail Services, and she said he acknowledged the negotiations with Barnes & Noble.  Bill Petrocelli, co-owner of Book Passage, said he doesn't know whether the Barnes & Noble move is actually happening.  But if true, he said, "It's distressing because Barnes & Noble has a history nationwide of targeting independent stores and putting them out of business. I have no illusions about what they are trying to do here.  "The space they are proposing is at least twice as big and maybe more than what they are in now (in Larkspur), so it would be promoted a lot more heavily, and the Town Center shopping center is the principal retail center in Corte Madera so there is a lot of spill-over effect between stores there," he said. "It changes the situation significantly."

Both Petrocelli and Hoffman acknowledged there have been talks over the past 10 years about Book Passage occupying various spaces at Town Center. "We're still committed to keeping Town Center local and independent, having a combination of local and regional and national chain merchants," said Hoffman, who estimated about half of the current stores are locally owned.