The vacant anchor space at Cornerstone of Los Gatos finally has a tenant — and it’s a name Bay Area grocery shoppers know well.
Gus’s Community Market, the family-run San Francisco grocer, will open its first location outside the city at 15980 Los Gatos Blvd., in the space Whole Foods vacated in April. The store is slated for spring 2027 and will run roughly 18,000 square feet, according to a report from What Now San Francisco.
For anyone who owns a home near the Los Gatos Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road intersection, this is the news you’ve been waiting on since last spring.
What Gus’s Is Bringing to Los Gatos
Gus’s is a sixth-store expansion for the Vardakastanis family, who started the business in 1981 as Haight Street Market and now operate five San Francisco locations. Brothers Dimitri and Bobby Vardakastanis have said customer demand for a South Bay location drove the decision.
The Los Gatos store is planned to carry:
- Fresh produce, premium meats and seafood, and sushi
- Prepared foods, including an expanded program with customizable bowls
- House-baked breads — a new addition to the Gus’s format
- Specialty groceries, locally sourced products, and private-label items
- Beer and wine
- A café with indoor and outdoor patio seating, in partnership with a coffee roaster not yet announced
The café and bakery components are notable. Cornerstone has historically been a drive-in, grab-what-you-need center. A patio and coffee program pushes it toward a place people linger — which changes the character of the whole property.
Why the Space Was Empty in the First Place
Whole Foods didn’t leave Los Gatos. It moved up the boulevard.
On April 15, 2026, Whole Foods opened a 43,130-square-foot store at 15650 Los Gatos Blvd., per the company’s announcement. That’s nearly double its former footprint at Cornerstone, where it had operated for more than three decades. The new location sits on the former Chevrolet dealership site redeveloped by Sand Hill Property Company, a parcel that had sat largely vacant since the 2008 downturn.
That relocation left Cornerstone without its anchor for roughly a year. Gus’s fills it — and with a smaller footprint than Whole Foods occupied, which leaves room in the center for additional tenants.
What This Means If You Own — or Want to Own — Nearby
We’ll be direct: a single grocery store does not move home values in Los Gatos. Buyers here are paying for schools, lot size, and location within the town, and those factors dwarf retail turnover.
What retail like this does affect is desirability at the margins, and margins matter in a market this competitive:
- Walkability and convenience. Homes within a half mile of Los Gatos Blvd. between Blossom Hill and Los Gatos-Almaden gain a real amenity — an everyday grocer plus a café within walking or short-driving distance.
- Neighborhood narrative. “Vacant former Whole Foods” is a line buyers notice on a tour. “New specialty market opening next year” is a line agents can use. That’s a listing-marketing advantage for sellers in the surrounding neighborhoods.
- Center stability. A leased anchor with a long-term operator reduces the risk of a slow decline in the rest of the center — which is the actual thing that hurts nearby property appeal over time.
- Timing. Spring 2027 is well out. If you’re selling in the next 12 months, this is a talking point, not a value driver. If you’re buying and holding, it’s a modest positive.
Thinking About Buying or Selling Near Los Gatos Boulevard?
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