"When you buy property, you have to wait for leases to roll until you pick tenants of your choosing." James Rosenfield said that to WWD in July 2023. He was talking about Marin Country Mart, the Larkspur Landing center he bought in 2009. That one sentence explains most of what has changed along Larkspur Landing Circle over the past year. The Mart works on a lease clock. When a lease ends, the owner gets a choice, and he has said plainly what kind of tenant he likes to choose.
The owner's two rules
Rosenfield also owns the Brentwood Country Mart and the Montecito Country Mart, and WWD reported that he uses the same leasing approach at all three. In his words, "I'll always bet on a capable, passionate individual over a corporate entity."
His second rule is patience. In the same 2023 interview, WWD noted that Bed Bath & Beyond and 24 Hour Fitness, which he called "non-conforming tenants," had left the Marin property. Their departure opened room for retailers like Birkenstock, Veronica Beard and The Great, and for local food like Hog Island. "It's exciting, I now have the physical room to let it become what I've wanted it to be," he said. In a 2022 Edible Marin & Wine Country profile, he described the Mart as a village of distinct shops and independent operators, built around local food and the farmers market.
Put the two together and you get a center that changes on purpose and in steps. Each open storefront is a decision.
A year of arrivals
Here are the openings from fall 2025 through this fall, in order:
- Emily Joubert Home & Garden held its opening celebration on Saturday, September 27, 2025. The Mart's announcement names Judy and Mike Sieber.
- Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant opened at 1003 Larkspur Landing Circle on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. The Marin Independent Journal and North Bay Business Journal reported that it was the French and Italian wine importer's first new retail site since its Berkeley storefront opened in 1972.
- Toytopia held its grand opening weekend March 20 to 22, 2026, at 2211 Larkspur Landing Circle. It sells educational toys, books, crafts and science and building kits.
- Varley listed the Mart among its summer 2026 store openings in a June 2026 post about returning to California. The shop is at 2409 Larkspur Landing Circle.
- Margaux, the New York footwear company started by Alexa Buckley Roussel and Sarah Pierson, is now open at 2207 Larkspur Landing Circle.
- Anya's Gifting Agency, a holiday pop-up from British designer Anya Hindmarch, opened September 24, 2026, at 2417 Larkspur Landing Circle.
The list holds both of Rosenfield's rules at once. Kermit Lynch fits the "capable, passionate individual" model about as well as any Bay Area business could. It is a 53-year-old East Bay house that waited more than five decades to open a second store. President Dixon Brooke told the IJ that the Marin shop would carry "a very similar ethos to the Berkeley shop: a high-touch, friendly environment."
The same stretch also brought Margaux from New York and Anya Hindmarch from London, each placed one storefront at a time. The Mart now curates from a wider map than the Bay Area.
The ice cream swap
The clearest example of the lease clock is the one most visible on a Saturday walk past the shops.
Frankie & Jo's opened its plant-based ice cream shop at the Mart in June 2023. It was the company's first and only California location, alongside four shops in Washington state. Everything it served was dairy-free and gluten-free, made from oat and coconut milk. The shop closed on August 31, 2026. KRON4 reported that the company announced the closing on Instagram and gave its reason: "Our landlords have terminated our lease early, due to lower sales than they would like."
Redwood Bark, the Redwood High School student paper, quoted the rest of that farewell post:
"And, we get it. Having a more well-known ice cream shop in the Mart would serve the community there, although we'd sure love to stay."
That account comes from the tenant. KRON4 reported that it reached out to the Mart for comment and had not heard back when the story ran. Frankie & Jo's still ships its ice cream frozen to customers who order online.
The next ice cream shop is Salt & Straw, founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek. It is coming to 2247A Larkspur Landing Circle, a couple of doors down from the old Frankie & Jo's spot. As of late October, the Mart's page for the shop still read "coming soon," with no opening date, hours or contact details posted. KRON4 noted that Salt & Straw usually rotates several vegan flavors along with its dairy ice cream, which matters for anyone who came to the Mart for dairy-free scoops.
Rosenfield's preference for independents and his willingness to wait both rest on one tool, and that tool is the lease. The same tool that brought Kermit Lynch in also ended Frankie & Jo's run early. The 2022 Edible profile reported that he had acknowledged the Mart's habit of incubating new businesses sometimes came at a cost, and he pointed to Bel Campo Meats as a business the pandemic had hurt. At a curated center, small businesses get a chance to open and also face a regular review of how they are doing.
Why a London label picked Larkspur for the holidays
The Anya Hindmarch pop-up shows the other way the lease clock runs, which is short. WWD reported that the designer partnered with Country Mart on two temporary stores, one in Brentwood and one in Marin. Both preview the brand's festive "Anya's Gifting Agency" campaign along with its bespoke, mainline, travel and life collections. The Mart's hiring notice for the shop gives its run as September 24 through December 31.
Hindmarch told WWD that she had long admired Rosenfield, and described his centers as "West Coast institutions." She called her U.S. approach "targeted partnerships with like-minded creative partners," and said it was "a more dynamic and challenging strategy than a traditional store rollout." The brand had stand-alone U.S. stores from the early 2000s until 2021.
That explains why a storefront can change hands with the seasons. A pop-up lets a brand test Marin for a few months. It also lets the Mart try out a name without a long commitment. When 2417 Larkspur Landing Circle turns over after the holidays, that is the plan working as designed.
The parts that stay on the calendar
Under all the turnover, a few things keep a steady schedule.
The Saturday farmers market runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine. Mart Littles music and crafts for kids run from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., and rotating live music plays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit Marin's listing shows the same weekly hours. The market is the part of the Mart's identity that Rosenfield himself tied to its founding concept.
Shop-hosted events posted on the Mart's events calendar for the rest of the year:
- Kris McIntosh Ceramics Trunk Show at Well Made Home, Thursday, November 12, from 11 a.m., through Sunday, November 15, at 4 p.m.
- Restorative Yoga + Sound Healing at Love Story Yoga, Sunday, November 22, from 6:15 to 7:45 p.m.
- Yaser Shaw Trunk Show at Hero Shop, Friday, December 11, from 11 a.m., through Saturday, December 12, at 5 p.m.
The bigger holiday traditions have been on the Mart's schedule before. Last year it held a Nutcracker story time and tree lighting on Sunday, November 30, 2025, and Santa photos on Saturday, December 6, 2025. As of late October, 2026 dates for those events had not been posted on the calendar. Families planning around the tree lighting should check the events page as Thanksgiving gets closer.
Back on the Circle, the storefront at 2247A is the next one to watch. That is where the lease clock will show its next decision, whenever Salt & Straw posts an opening day.
Ben Faber grew up a few minutes from Larkspur Landing, and the Faber Real Estate Team keeps a close eye on how places like the Mart shape everyday life in central Marin. If you're wondering how changes along Larkspur Landing Circle connect to your own plans in Larkspur, let's talk real estate.