Perle Wine Bar built a wooden dining parklet during the pandemic. The bar has since closed, and the parklet now has Indian Paintbrush, California Tidytips and Lupine painted along its sides. Four Montclair artists painted it for a new Montclair Village Association initiative: Minnie Bredouw, Nivi Ramesh Brett, Ophelia Ding and Stephanie Lewis.
The mural is a good picture of the Village in 2026. A space emptied out, and something community-made filled the gap while the next tenant question stays open. That pattern holds across the business district this year. The arrivals are mostly places to eat or to pick up everyday needs. The departures are mostly long-running specialty shops. In between, the association is using art and plaza events to keep the blocks lively.
The Antioch corner behind Safeway
The most turnover this year has been on Antioch Street and Antioch Court.
Pagarung Thai Cuisine at 6200 Antioch St. has closed for good. The East Bay Times reported that it had kept sporadic hours since the COVID-19 pandemic, and that a sign on the door thanks customers for their years of support.
Another restaurant is already lined up for the space. Bay Bridge Hospitality LLC filed for an ownership change at the site. The owners are a mother-daughter team, Alex Piyapanee and Supapoon Kongthai, and they planned to begin serving brunch on Oct. 1, adding dinner after the soft opening. The restaurant is called Piggie's. By mid-September, sandwich boards around the Village were advertising it as a bistro opening in October. The owners are connected to Daughter Thai, and the plan is to start with brunch and move into lunch and dinner later. As of this writing, no published report confirms that service has started. Treat Oct. 1 as the planned date. Posted hours are the thing to look for.
Around the corner on Antioch Court, Go Banh Mi is moving into the space Grinders held for many years. For now, the shop's website is taking catering orders only, with a $200 minimum. It describes walk-in and regular pickup as coming soon. When walk-up service opens, the menu will include Vietnamese sandwiches with grilled meats, tofu or fried egg.
There was one loss nearby that the new food openings don't replace. The shoe repair shop in Montclair Plaza has closed permanently. The owner asked customers to leave him a note about any pending repairs.
So the Antioch corner will soon have two food tenants in previously empty spaces and one fewer repair counter. That matches the rest of the district.
Mountain Boulevard: a bigger pharmacy and a coffee bar back in business
Most of the everyday-errand changes are on Mountain Boulevard.
The former Rite Aid at 1991 Mountain Blvd. has its lights on and merchandise on the shelves again. CVS Pharmacy has leased the 27,000-square-foot space, which Rite Aid gave up when it closed in July 2025 during a bankruptcy liquidation. The East Bay Times and Mercury News reported that CVS should finish the move by December, which will leave its smaller space across the street vacant.
That move fills a large building that has sat dark for more than a year. It also opens a new vacancy right across the street, so the Village's open storefronts will shift location without disappearing.
Highwire Coffee at 2059 Mountain Blvd. reopened after shutting abruptly in March. A July update said it was gradually adding back hours. A few doors away, Perle at 2058 Mountain Blvd. is on Oaklandside's September list of permanent closures. Its parklet is the one that now carries the wildflower mural.
The street itself has been repaired too. Oakland Public Works filled a large pothole on Mountain Boulevard in front of the Montclair Chevron station and repaved the badly pitted stretch between Ascot and Woodminster Lane. A new sign at the Thornhill stoplight by the southbound Highway 13 offramp, which backs up during the afternoon commute, reminds drivers to pull forward to the white line so the left-turn sensor picks them up.
La Salle Avenue: two long-running shops gone, one new store open
The closures on La Salle are the ones that changed the Village's character most.
A Great Good Place for Books at 6120 La Salle Ave. closed for good on Sunday, June 14. It had been in Montclair for more than two decades. Owner Kathleen Caldwell told Oaklandside that more than one factor played a part in the decision. No replacement tenant has been reported. The Montclair Village Association's online retail directory still lists the bookstore, so that page isn't a reliable guide to the space right now.
A few doors down, Hula at 6136 La Salle Ave. was holding a retirement closeout sale in the spring. On March 31, the East Bay Times reported that owner Andrea Faber was retiring and the store was winding down its sale, with no closing date announced. No later report confirms its last day, so whether it's still open is unverified.
La Salle has gained a store as well. The Shop, owned by Ali Baker, opened at 6123 La Salle Ave. and sells children's, men's and women's clothing. Around the corner on Medau Place, Healthy Life Vitamins at 6130 Medau Pl. has added a wellness suite with an infrared sauna, red-light therapy, aromatherapy and a 4D massage chair.
Quick status check by address:
- 6120 La Salle Ave. A Great Good Place for Books. Closed June 14. No new tenant reported.
- 6123 La Salle Ave. The Shop. Open, clothing for kids and adults.
- 6136 La Salle Ave. Hula. Retirement closeout reported in March. Closure not confirmed.
- 6130 Medau Pl. Healthy Life Vitamins. Wellness suite added.
- 6200 Antioch St. Former Pagarung Thai. Piggie's planned for October.
- Antioch Court, former Grinders space. Go Banh Mi. Catering now, walk-up coming soon.
- 1991 Mountain Blvd. Former Rite Aid. CVS moving in, expected by December.
- 2059 Mountain Blvd. Highwire Coffee. Reopened, adding hours back.
- 2058 Mountain Blvd. Perle. Closed, parklet now painted.
What the association is doing in the meantime
With vacancies on La Salle and a new one coming on Mountain, the Montclair Village Association is putting its effort into reasons to visit the Village between openings.
Montclair Blooms, the program behind the parklet mural, is the clearest example. MVA executive director Daniel Swafford described it as a community-led effort meant to help more public art "sprout up" in the Village, to attract business and bring the community together. He pointed to cities like Copenhagen, where studies have linked public art to greater overall happiness and a better business climate. The association said it would post ways to volunteer and donate at montclairvillage.com.
Events are the other part of that effort. This summer's Picnic on the Plaza series used picnic-table dining on the Antioch Court plaza, and "Salsa & Sangria" ran on Sept. 20 with dancing, food and drinks. The series has one event left, and it's on the same corner where Piggie's and Go Banh Mi are getting ready to open.
Dates on the Village calendar between now and the end of the year:
- Every Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Montclair Village Farmers' Market runs year-round, rain or shine, at La Salle Avenue and Moraga Avenue.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Halloween Fun at Village Plaza, 2066 Antioch Ct. It's free and open to all ages, with DJ music, face painting, a photo booth, family crafts, a fire department parade rig and trick-or-treating.
- By December. CVS is expected to finish moving into 1991 Mountain Blvd.
The Halloween event is also a good chance to check on the Antioch corner. If Piggie's has started brunch and Go Banh Mi has opened its walk-up window by Oct. 25, the families heading to the plaza will walk right past both.
If you own a home near the Village and want to know how this year's openings and closures figure into a local pricing conversation, Ben Wahli can walk you through what a current valuation looks like. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll base it on the blocks you actually live near.
