After seven years, Alma Plaza has a grocery store

Uploaded: Friday, October 12, 2012, 9:10 AM

After seven years, Alma Plaza has a grocery store Veteran of Berkeley food scene opens Miki's Farm Fresh Market in Palo Alto

by Jocelyn Dong Palo Alto Weekly Staff

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"You'll probably find 24 feet of mushrooms. Any mushroom you could want," he said of the soon-to-be-filled space.

Just one week before the grocery store's opening at Alma Plaza in Palo Alto, workers scurried to arrange cheese displays, set up the deli section and stock shelves of dry goods.

Werness grabbed some rice cakes -- gluten-free and vegan-friendly -- and rattled off the low price his buyers were able to get them for. Ditto the bottles of Looza fruit nectar, which lined shelves under the countertops like wallflowers waiting for the dance.

It's been seven years since Albertsons closed at 3445 Alma St., precipitating a much-discussed search for another neighborhood market. Some residents clamored for a Trader Joe's. Others speculated that JJ&F Market would move in from the College Terrace neighborhood.

Instead, Werness, a veteran of the Bay Area grocery scene, signed the lease with property owner McNellis Partners to open the independent store. At 17,000 square feet, Miki's Farm Fresh Market will be nearly 4,000 square feet larger than Albertsons. But unlike its predecessor, Miki's is aiming for a different niche: organic and specialty foods but with price points low enough to keep the family household on budget.

Werness rebuffs rumors that Miki's will cater to the cost-is-no-object yuppie crowd. Instead, the market will offer both the exotic and the basic: In the mustard section, gourmet brands sit alongside French's. Organic sugar nestles next to bags of C&H.

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After seven years, Alma Plaza has a grocery store