Sonoma Market
Don Shone opened a market in Glen Ellen in 1963, and two decades later he and his brother-in-law bought the old Valley Mart on West Napa Street and put their name on it.1
Why go
Shone and Dale Downing fed Sonoma Valley for more than fifty years between them, and they ran the two stores as a partnership for fifty-two of them.1 When they sold, they sold to Nugget Markets in Woodland, a family chain run by the fourth and fifth generations of the Stille family, and the terms are the part worth knowing: the store names stayed, the managers stayed, about 200 staff stayed, and nobody took a pay cut.1 Downing's own line on it was that customers might even see prices come down.1 On what is actually across the counters today I have nothing sourced, so I cannot tell you whether the deli is worth the stop.
What locals & experts say
- Don Shone, in The Press Democrat, on selling after fifty-two years with his brother-in-law:
Dale and I have been partners for 52 years. It's a strange feeling, but it's all for the better. I'm getting too old.
1
Good to know
- The name did not change with the owner.1
Verdict
listed — Nothing published describes the shop. What is settled is how it came to be there: Don Shone opened a market in Glen Ellen in 1963, his brother-in-law Dale Downing joined him, and two decades later the pair bought the old Valley Mart on West Napa Street and renamed it Sonoma Market. After a 52-year partnership they sold both stores to Nugget Markets of Woodland, who kept the names, the managers and about 200 staff. Not one counter, deli or price appears anywhere, so the rung sits at the floor.