On a Tuesday in late August, the line at Vella Cheese Co. on Second Street East ran out the door. Press Democrat photographers caught it on Aug. 25, the day the news broke that Sonoma's oldest fromagerie was ending production after 94 years. The owners had expected it could take a few months to sell through the remaining wheels. Instead, according to the Sonoma Index-Tribune, customers bought them out so quickly that the shop's last day of cheese sales was Sept. 4, about 10 days after the announcement.
That line was the first sign of the busiest stretch of storefront turnover the Plaza has seen this year. Several long-running local businesses closed between August and late September. One national brand has a city permit to move into a Plaza storefront. Whether an incoming business can open on the Plaza is decided at a public hearing, and the city's test there asks whether the business adds something new to the Plaza and leaves its look intact.
Why the long-timers left
The departing businesses each gave their own reasons, and none of them blamed Plaza traffic.
Vella's owners pointed to post-pandemic economic strain and falling demand for small-batch artisan cheese. The company traces back to Gaetano "Tom" Vella, who opened his own cheesemaking operation at the request of a group of local dairymen and created the dry Monterey Jack that became its signature. Four generations of the family ran it from there. The retail store and mail order are permanently closed, and the owners have said they plan pop-ups to sell their remaining aged cheeses.
On East Napa Street, Oso Sonoma and the Parkside Wine Bar next door at 5 E. Napa St. announced they would close together on Saturday, Sept. 26. Oso had been on the Plaza for 12 years, won Best New Restaurant in the Index-Tribune's 2015 People's Choice Awards, and had 14 employees. Parkside opened in September 2023. Chef and co-owner David Bush told the Sonoma Index-Tribune that the decision came down to the building:
"We have been in desperate need of upgrading and updating the kitchen and building in general. When it came down to it, it was too costly to spend the money on a building we don't own."
Bush's reasoning applies to any tenant in the Plaza's older buildings. A tenant who needs a new kitchen pays for improvements that stay with the building when the lease ends. For a small restaurant, that can be the difference between renewing and closing.
The third departure was a move. The Passdoor, an art gallery and jewelry store, set Aug. 29 as its last day at 452 First St. E. after nearly a decade in Sonoma and announced a new home at 1160 Fourth St. in Santa Rosa.
The address on First Street East
The Passdoor's former storefront is where the city's rules come into play.
Overland Sheepskin Co. is taking the space. The company sells shearling, leather and wool outerwear in a Western style, was founded by the Leahy family 53 years ago in Taos, New Mexico, and is now headquartered in Fairfield, Iowa. Because it runs a chain of stores, the City of Sonoma treats it as a "formula business." In the city's words, that is a business with a "standardized array of services, merchandise, and features" across its other locations, according to the city staff report prepared for the Planning Commission.
Under Sonoma Municipal Code §19.50.035, a formula business in the Historic Overlay needs a use permit. A storefront inside the Plaza Retail Overlay District, which covers 452 First St. E., faces a stricter standard: the Planning Commission must make three more findings before it can approve the permit.
- The business will promote diversity and variety, keeping a balanced mix of shops for both residents and visitors.
- The business and its improvements fit Sonoma's historic character and preserve the Plaza's distinctive look and its shopping and dining experience.
- The business is compatible with the uses already in the zone and supports the zone's economic vitality as the commercial, cultural and civic center of the town.
None of the three findings is about who owns the business or where it is based. The test is about what the business adds to the Plaza's mix and whether the building looks the same afterward.
What the commission actually approved
Overland filed its application on May 19, 2026. The application asked for no significant structural changes, with cosmetic upgrades that included new paint, flooring and wall finishes, as the Sonoma Index-Tribune reported. City staff found that the facade would not change substantially and that the store would add handcrafted products to the Plaza's mix. Because the work was limited to minor alterations of an existing building, staff classified the project as exempt from environmental review.
The commission approved the permit 5–0 on July 16, 2026, with two commissioners absent, according to the meeting minutes. At the hearing, Overland vice president of operations Cody Phipps said the company expected to open in Sonoma by mid- to late November, "Definitely before Thanksgiving," as the Sonoma Index-Tribune reported. The company plans to employ five to seven people at the store.
The result is a national brand in a Plaza storefront that has been required to look like the storefront that was already there. The Plaza's appearance carries financial weight for the city, too. In May, the Index-Tribune reported that tourism-related transient occupancy tax made up more than half of Sonoma's general-fund revenue.
The fall changes, address by address
| Business | Address | What changed | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vella Cheese Co. | 315 Second St. E. | Retail shop closed after 94 years | Last sales Sept. 4 |
| Oso Sonoma | East Napa Street, on the Plaza | Announced closure after 12 years | Sept. 26 |
| Parkside Wine Bar | 5 E. Napa St. | Announced closure alongside Oso | Sept. 26 |
| The Passdoor | 452 First St. E. | Relocated to 1160 Fourth St., Santa Rosa | Last Sonoma day Aug. 29 |
| Overland Sheepskin Co. | 452 First St. E. | Formula-business use permit approved | Approved July 16 |
| Fine Eye Gallery | 535 First St. W. | Relocated from Sutter Creek | Opened Sept. 2 |
| Belongings | 529 Broadway, inside Nanigins | New women's clothing and consignment boutique | Announced for Nov. 4 |
Where the independents landed
The other arrivals this fall are independent businesses, and they moved into existing spaces that needed little work. Fine Eye Gallery brought its gallery to 535 First St. W. from Sutter Creek and opened Sept. 2. Belongings, a women's clothing and consignment boutique, set a Nov. 4 opening inside Nanigins at 529 Broadway, sharing that business's floor instead of leasing its own. A few blocks west, the Index-Tribune's September roundup of new restaurants reported Sonoma Eats open at 561 Fifth St. W., in the former La Hacienda space.
The best-known reuse of the year happened in July. Dead Letter, from John Toulze and Sondra Bernstein of The Girl & The Fig and Poppy, opened in the old post office building at First and East Napa streets, which had been home to Maya Mexican Restaurant for more than two decades. The restaurant kept the building's stone walls and made its postal history part of the decor. It is the same approach the city's formula-business findings ask of national brands, carried out by a local operator who wasn't required to follow it.
The next hearing will look like this one
The Plaza now has several empty storefronts, including the long, narrow room at Oso with its bar up front and kitchen in the back, and the shop on Second Street East where the Vella line formed. If an independent operator takes one of them, the change can happen quietly. If a business with standardized locations elsewhere applies for a storefront inside the Plaza Retail Overlay, the city's process puts it on a Planning Commission agenda, where the public can testify for or against it. Commissioners must then decide whether the store adds variety and keeps the Plaza's appearance before they can approve it. Agendas, staff reports and minutes are posted on the city's CivicWeb portal, the same place the Overland record lives.
This is general information about a city rule, not legal advice. Anyone weighing a lease or a business plan on the Plaza should confirm the requirements with the City of Sonoma and their own attorney.
Lauren Berg works in Sonoma, so we follow these Plaza changes as neighbors do, from the empty windows to the commission votes. If you want to talk through what a changing Plaza block means for a home a few streets away, Berg Group is glad to walk it with you. Request a tour, and we'll start on First Street East.
