Sonoma Cheese Factory closes Dec. 31, to reopen in April

When the historic Sonoma Cheese Factory on Spain Street closed its doors on Dec. 31, it wasn’t just shuttering for New Year’s Day, but for at least three months.

The long-standing Plaza area business posted notice this week that it intends to reopen in April. In a letter to Cheese Factory customers dated Dec. 31, the deli/retail store’s owners, the Viviani Family, called it a “heart-wrenching decision.”

“Reaching this decision was by no means easy,” the Vivianis wrote in a joint statement, “as we are aware that our employees, customers, partners and our community rely on the Sonoma Cheese Factory.”

The letter notes that in previous years, the Cheese Factory remained open in the winter months with reduced days and hours.

“As we enter 2019 and the slower retail season,” the Vivianis continued, “we have decided to take a different approach and implement a temporary closure effective Jan. 1, 2019.”

Owner Maria Viviani wasn’t available to speak by phone as of press time, but in an email to the Index-Tribune, she wrote that the closure “may be a bold move but we feel it is a good business decision for us heading into the slow season.”

As employees onsite prepared for the store’s closure on New Year’s Eve, some staff remained unsettled by the three-month layoff.

When asked what she intends to do from now to April, one Cheese Factory employee – who requested not to be identified – replied, “Find a new job.”

Another employee told the Index-Tribune that in a meeting with Cheese Factory management last week, staff was informed that they would have to reapply for their jobs in April, when the business is scheduled to reopen.

Maria Viviani wrote to the Index-Tribune that she regretted the timing of the news, but wanted staff to know the situation as soon as the decision to close for the winter was made. She said all are welcome to re-apply when the store reopens.

Viviani said that several businesses around the downtown area have felt a decrease in customer traffic since the 2017 wildfires. “Even though we are a deeply established business, we are not immune to these effects,” she said.

The closure follows a series of price reductions that had been advertised throughout December.

“I’ve been coming in almost every day,” said Sonoma resident Byron Nichols, as he perused what remained of the inventory on Dec. 31.

On New Year’s Eve, the store’s shelves were almost bare, the cheese was gone, as was the wine and most other foodstuffs. The barbecue grill was closed, and the only sandwich available at the deli was a grilled cheese panini for $5 – with a free beer.

But most customers were there to pick over what remained of the once-diverse and abundant inventory.

“I’ve got wine, I’ve got cheese,” Nichols tallied, loading up a reusable shopping bag with crackers and other sundries.

The prolonged winter closure of the Cheese Factory comes in the footsteps of a planned remodel of the facility into a more expansive food marketplace. The development company tapped to lead the remodel, Sonoma Square Market, is led by Steve Carlin, who founded the Oxbow Market in Napa. Calls to Carlin were not returned by press time.

The proposal from Sonoma Square Market totals 25,000 square feet of interior commercial space (slightly smaller than Oxbow’s 30,000 square feet) and includes two restaurant tenant spaces and a total of 245 indoor seats and 72 outdoor seats throughout the project.

In appearances before the Planning Commission during the project’s path toward approval, Carlin emphasized his experience in creating Napa’s Oxbow Market as a model for what he had in mind for the Spain Street location.

The Cheese Factory remodel proposal was approved by the Planning Commission on April 12 in a 5-2 vote, but on April 27 the decision was appealed to the City Council by a group of business neighbors including Tom and Ingrid Dunlap of the Swiss Hotel, and Jim and Hank Marioni, who own the building that houses Mary’s Pizza Shack.

The City Council was originally set to hear and vote on the appeal on July 30, but the developers asked for a delay so they could review the large amount of material the appellants had submitted.

The appeal has not been reopened since.

“Best I know is that it is still in the pipeline,” Sonoma Planning Director David Storer told the Index-Tribune in December.

The property is officially owned by the Nina & Maria Viviani Trust, whose father Celso Viviani founded the cheese factory in 1931 and financed the distinctive post-deco building at 2 W. Spain St. in 1945, now declared historic. Cheese hasn’t been manufactured in the building since 2001, but is produced under contract with a Eureka-area dairy.

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.