Marie Callender's Restaurant Closes After 39 Years in Cupertino

Marie Callender’s Restaurant and Bakery, Cupertino’s favorite pie place for 39 years in the same Cupertino Crossroads location, quietly closed its doors at the end of January.

“We loved Marie Callender’s,” said Cupertino Planning Manager Gary Chao. “They were here for a long time, and we’re sad to see them leave."

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Mayor Gilbert Wong said his wife lamented the loss of the restaurant, where she bought their Lunar New Year pies every year. He said they drove to Marie Callender's Sunnyvale location to get this year's pie.

While disappointing to lose a long-time institution, there is some indication that the property owners, Byer Properties, has a plan in the works to replace both Mervyn’s and Marie Callender’s in the near future, according to city staff.

Economic Development Director Kelly Kline told the council that the owner of the Cupertino Crossroads shopping center, Byer Properties, has "a lot of plans for the space."

She said it's not clear if the plans include putting a new tenant into the existing Marie Callender's space, or demolishing the structure for a new building, possibly closer to the street.

As to the rest of the center, which has seen several businesses leave over the last few years, Kline said, "I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors flying around, and it looks like much of the space will be filled, I hope by the end of the year."

In an earlier interview, Chao said the city has been in discussions with Byer Properties to revamp the parking lot around Mervyn’s and Marie Callender’s to make way for a new retailer in the Mervyn’s location at 20730 Stevens Creek Blvd., shuttered for the last two years.

Chao said there has been no official announcement of what retailer might be moving into the space. A representative for Byer Properties said the company has no comment at this time.

A listing on the leasing agent's website lists the 89,500-square-foot Mervyn's space as an "extremely rare Cupertino big box opportunity."

Chao said the city expects that the exterior of the shopping center on the Mervyn’s end will be remodeled to match an earlier upgrade on the rest of the center.

As for the Marie Callender’s space, Chao said the property owners are looking for a “high-end” restaurant to take over and remodel the building.

When asked why the Cupertino store closed, Jim Vickers, vice president of construction and development for Marie Callender's, would only say, “We lost our lease.” He encouraged customers to visit the next closest location in Sunnyvale.

Nationwide Marie Callender’s has 130 locations, according to its website. It’s part of a larger company called Perkins and Marie Callender’s Inc. At the end of the third quarter of 2010, the company reported that four Marie Callender’s restaurants had closed so far that year. Sales were down 4.1 percent in the quarter, compared to the same time in the previous year.