Iconic Healdsburg SHED Closing Up Shop

HEALDSBURG, CA — Longtime Healdsburg residents Doug Lipton and Cindy Daniel, founders and co-owners of Healdsburg SHED, announced Wednesday they are moving their business online only, and will close the doors this New Year’s Eve on their physical store, cafe and modern grange.

"After much consideration and experiencing a tough retail year following the 2017 Sonoma County fires, we have made the very difficult decision to close the Healdsburg brick-and-mortar version of SHED," Lipton said.

Established in 2013 at 25 North St., Healdsburg SHED encompasses a café, a fermentation bar, an events space and a market selling food, garden tools and cookware.

Despite a financially lackluster year at its physical site, SHED's online sales continue to thrive, Lipton and Daniel said in a news release. The couple expects the SHED webstore to remain lively with a proprietary Pantry line, curated collection of goods, and ongoing educational content.

The decision to close up shop did not come easily, the couple said. Through SHED’s very building, with its staircase mural depicting Healdsburg’s rural history, Lipton and Daniel shone a light on the local food cycle and Healdsburg’s place in it.

"We’ve lived in Healdsburg for nearly 25 years, cultivating our farm and raising our sons here," Daniel said. "We opened the SHED in 2013 to share the idea that health and happiness are grounded in the soil. ... SHED allowed us to be part of something bigger than ourselves that the whole community could share."

SHED celebrates the culture in agriculture: Local farmers and artisan producers have always received a 10-percent discount on any purchase and most of SHED’s produce is grown within 10 miles of the store. Housewares and tools are chosen based on their high quality, sustainable production, and the practices and history of the companies that make them. SHED’s wine, beer, and cider program highlights local producers. Its Fermentation Bar is the first of its kind. Its highly acclaimed Café changes its menu sometimes daily to reflect what is freshest in the fields each day.

The Modern Grange area that fills the upper reaches of the building has hosted hundreds of events over the last 5-1/2 years, from Healdsburg Chamber mixers to dance performances to art shows to Healdsburg Jazz Festival gigs to cooking classes and beekeeping workshops, to live radio shows to celebrity chef dinners to foraged food luncheons to wedding receptions to nonprofit fundraisers to world-renowned speakers to children’s craft classes to corporate retreats to oyster shucking tutorials to farmer talks and so much more.

"Programming our educational and cultural events has been one of my greatest joys," Daniel said. "Our community of farmers, teachers, authors, chefs, artists and neighbors is unique and incredibly special. We’ve explored and learned so much together."

SHED’s Café has earned numerous accolades, including the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design; placement on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 100 list for three consecutive years along with a three-star rating review; a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand designation for 2017, 2018 and 2019; placement in Eater’s “California Essential 38 Restaurants in 2018;” and four Good Food Awards for products in 2018, and nominations for four products in 2019. In 2017, SHED joined Zero Foodprint in their program addressing greenhouse emissions via offsetting the businesses carbon emissions "foodprint."

"We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished with our community and thankful to the residents of Healdsburg who have been so supportive over the past five-and-a-half years," Daniel said. "We are truly grateful for our incredible employees who have been integral to creating and sharing all aspects of SHED with visitors and customers."

It all began with an idea about good farming, good cooking and good eating.

"Our intention at SHED was to illustrate the path from the farm to the kitchen to the table, and back to the farm, as a way to help our guests understand those important connections," Daniel said.

"We have told that story throughout the building, from our commitment to serving local, seasonal food in our Café, to our Modern Grange, where we hosted so many events highlighting local food and agriculture, not to mention the connection to our SHED’s HomeFarm where we trained our staff, taught classes, and operated a composting program in our efforts to be Zero Food Waste," Daniel said.

A dedication to local food and farming is sure to inform the couple’s next steps, she said.

"Healdsburg is where we planted and nurtured the seeds for SHED, and all that has come from it will guide us to the next chapter," Daniel said.

After Jan. 1, SHED’s iconic agri-chic building, sustainably constructed from pre-fab parts, will be made available to a new steward.

"We look forward to finding a new owner who understands the community that's gathered here and how to carry forward the spirit of SHED," Lipton said. "In the New Year, we will re-imagine our dreams and ambitions around the concept of SHED, and explore what’s next for us."

For now, Healdsburg SHED remains open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until Dec. 31. For more information, visit Healdsburgshed.com.

Photos by Eric Wolfinger, Caitlyn McCaffrey and Michael Woolsey/Courtesy Healdsburg SHED