In September 2025, the Starbucks at Graham Plaza closed. Nine months later, the Scotts Valley Farmers' Market set up in the plaza's upper parking lot. Seven weeks after that, a Sicilian family bakery that had been in Ben Lomond opened in Suite F as a full Italian restaurant. All three changes happened at 219 Mount Hermon Road. Together they made one parking lot and storefront row the place Scotts Valley's Saturday morning now centers on.
This fall is the first one the market has spent at this address. It also has a firm end date. The market's season runs through Saturday, Nov. 21.
A Year at One Address
When | What changed at Graham Plaza |
|---|---|
Sept. 27, 2025 | Last day of service at the Starbucks at 219 Mount Hermon Road |
May 2026 | Scotts Valley City Council approves moving the farmers' market to the plaza |
June 27, 2026 | Market opens in the upper parking lot, Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon |
Mid-August 2026 | La Placa Italian Cuisine opens in Suite F with a soft opening |
Nov. 21, 2026 | Final market Saturday of the season |
The Starbucks closed as part of a national round of store closures. The same week, the company's Ocean Street store in Santa Cruz closed too. That decision came from outside Scotts Valley. Everything after it was local: a council vote, a market organization looking for room, and a bakery owner moving his business down the hill.
Why the Market Left Scotts Valley Drive
Santa Cruz Community Farmers' Markets founded the Scotts Valley market with the City in 2009. For years it was held at the Boys & Girls Club site. That site is the Joe & Linda Aliberti Clubhouse at 5060 Scotts Valley Drive.
The club's plan is the reason the market moved. Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County wants to build a new 7,500-square-foot youth center there and turn the existing 2,400-square-foot building into a teen center. In November 2025, Rep. Jimmy Panetta announced $1 million in federal funding for the youth center. His office estimated the finished project would serve about 400 young people a year.
Nicole Zahm, communications and programs manager for Santa Cruz Community Farmers' Markets, said the news of the renovation "put a fire under us to find a new spot." She also said local businesses welcomed the idea of a market on Mount Hermon Road. The organization calls Graham Plaza the market's "new long-term home." That makes the move permanent. The market isn't waiting to go back to Scotts Valley Drive. No groundbreaking or completion date for the clubhouse expansion has been published.
The market's own page describes the change in plain terms: "This is when the bustle happens; we're embracing it."
The Bakery That Came Down From Ben Lomond
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported La Placa Italian Cuisine's opening on Aug. 18, 2026. The paper said the restaurant had opened the weekend before at 219 Mount Hermon Road, Suite F, near Zinnia's. Owner Leo La Placa had recently closed La Placa Family Bakery in Ben Lomond, and he previously ran Bedda Mia. The new location combines the bakery with fresh pasta, handmade pizza, espresso and wine.
The timing works well with the market. La Placa's website lists bakery hours as 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Tuesday, when it's closed. On a Saturday, that means the bakery opens at the same hour as the market stalls across the lot. The restaurant says breakfast classics, pastries and Italian espresso start its mornings. It also offers catering for family gatherings, rehearsal dinners and corporate lunches.
The plaza had no coffee counter after September 2025. La Placa now fills that gap, and the morning foot traffic from the market is right outside its door.
What the Stalls Carry Into November
When the market announced the move, organizers listed the produce shoppers could expect through the season. Several items on that list are fall crops: winter squash, sweet potatoes, grapes, citrus, mushrooms and garlic, along with flowers and garden starts. The market's page also lists pasture-raised eggs, artisanal meats, breads, seafood, pastries, an espresso bar and ready-to-eat food. Live music is listed as a market feature.
These were the food vendors named in June:
- Companion Bakeshop
- Beckmann's
- Adorable French Bakery
- Hidden Fortress Coffee
- Empanadas La Linda
- El Salchichero
- Freckles Pickles
That list is from opening day. No published update shows which vendors stayed into October, so check the market's page before planning a visit around a particular stall. Rotating vendors also sell handmade crafts and soaps.
The market still takes part in Market Match. CalFresh and EBT shoppers who spend $15 in benefits get another $15 in tokens for fruits and vegetables.
The Saturdays Left on the Calendar
The market's own page lists the hours as 8 a.m. to noon, and Visit Santa Cruz County's listing says the same. Some older calendar text still shows 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so go by the 8 a.m. start. After today, these market Saturdays remain:
- Oct. 10
- Oct. 17
- Oct. 24
- Oct. 31
- Nov. 7
- Nov. 14
- Nov. 21, the last market of the season
The Oct. 31 market falls on Halloween morning. Nov. 21 is the Saturday before Thanksgiving week. The Press Banner described the season as running "through Thanksgiving," but the market organization gives Nov. 21 as the specific closing date.
Parking was the main open question before the move, and a reader raised it in the comments on the Press Banner's preview story. No follow-up coverage has reported how the upper lot has handled Saturday crowds since June.
The Rest of This Stretch of Mount Hermon Road
The market is there only on Saturday mornings. These businesses share the same short stretch of Mount Hermon Road.
Business | Address | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
La Placa Italian Cuisine | 219 Mount Hermon Road, Suite F | Bakery, breakfast, pasta, pizza, espresso, wine |
CineLux Scotts Valley Café & Lounge | 226 Mount Hermon Road | Films with snacks, local beer, wine and cocktails |
Bruno's Bar & Grill | 230 Mount Hermon Road, Suite G | Lunch, dinner, rooftop dining, events |
Home by Zinnia's | 262 Mount Hermon Road, Unit 102 | Home decor and furnishings, open daily |
The Sentinel's August report placed La Placa near Zinnia's inside the plaza. Home by Zinnia's, the home-furnishings shop, is a short walk east at 262.
All four businesses are within about 50 street numbers of each other. Through Nov. 21, a Saturday on this stretch can run from breakfast at La Placa and the market at 8 a.m. to dinner on Bruno's rooftop or a film at CineLux. After Nov. 21, the upper lot will have no market until next season. This year's season started May 2.
For other places that shape the Scotts Valley calendar, see our Scotts Valley summer calendar guide and our Scotts Valley neighborhood page.
If you want to talk about how the town's commercial corners are changing, or what that means for your own plans, the team at our Scotts Valley office and across David Lyng Real Estate would be glad to hear from you. Contact Us.