Montclair Village Spent 2026 Refilling Its Own Storefronts

The wooden dining parklet outside 2058 Mountain Boulevard went up during the pandemic so Perle could seat guests outside. Perle is gone now, but the parklet is still there. These days it's covered in Indian Paintbrush, California Tidytips and Lupine, painted in bold, flat shapes that look a lot like a Matisse cutout.

Most of Montclair Village's year has gone like that parklet. The spaces stayed and their uses changed. Nearly everything new in the Village this year has opened inside space that someone else left. The next change is already scheduled. By December, CVS expects to leave its current storefront empty.

Three departures in one year

The year started with losses. A Great Good Place for Books closed its La Salle Avenue shop on Sunday, June 14, after nearly 30 years. Debi Echlin and Helen Talley founded the store in 1997, and Kathleen Caldwell took it over in 2005. Caldwell told The Oaklandside that the run had been "a wonderful and wild ride."

Two restaurants closed by August. The Oaklandside's Nosh roundup reported that Pagarung Thai Cuisine at 6200 Antioch St. had closed for good, with a handwritten note on the window. The same roundup said Perle Bar at 2058 Mountain Blvd. had closed after nine years. Perle opened in 2017 as a California-French restaurant and later came back as Perle Bar with a California-Vietnamese menu.

In a district this compact, what happened to each of those spaces next shapes how the Village feels on a walk.

The coffee shop that came back

Highwire Coffee is the one story this year that ended where it began. The Montclair shop closed suddenly in March because of operational problems. By mid-July, the East Bay Times reported it was serving coffee and pastries every day again at 2059 Mountain Blvd. Highwire is part of an Emeryville-based chain of nine shops, and it reopened by adding hours a little at a time.

Highwire sits at 2059 Mountain Blvd. and Perle's parklet at 2058, so the two share the same stretch of Mountain Boulevard. One address has its morning coffee crowd back. The other has a mural where its tables used to be.

A mural where the patio was

The painted parklet is part of Montclair Blooms, a new effort from the Montclair Village Association. MVA executive director Daniel Swafford told the East Bay Times that the goal is for more public art to "sprout up" in the Village to draw business and bring the community together. The idea came from places like Copenhagen. The association's Montclair Blooms page describes a wider plan that combines murals, native plants and a refreshed brand for the district. The images draw on flowers, trees and foliage native to Oakland.

The lead artist is Minnie Bredouw, a longtime visual artist and former creative director at Pinterest who has lived in Montclair for about five years. She works with local artists Nivi Ramesh Brett, Ophelia Ding and Stephanie Lewis. She explained the visual idea to the Mercury News:

"I have been studying the wildflowers of Northern California and thought Matisse-style graphics of our local flowers could bring forth a beautiful visual language for Montclair, nestled in nature."

The same column says the next mural could go on the retaining wall near the tennis and pickleball courts. The site isn't confirmed yet, and the work is run by volunteers who are still raising money. The Village's parking garage already has wall art on every level, so the new murals add to something that was already there.

Who's moving into each space

Here is where each changed space stood as of late October.

Piggie's, in the former Pagarung space

The newest restaurant in the Village is moving into Pagarung's old space behind Safeway. Piggie's is run by a mother and daughter. Alex Piyapanee is a bartender and sommelier who worked at Daughter Thai for 11 years. Her mother, Nat Kongthai, has a hotel background and wrote many of the recipes. The East Bay Times reported plans for brunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. Piyapanee expects her mother's morning porridge, a savory oatmeal with mixed mushrooms, to be a signature dish, and the menu will also include an Asian braised pork.

The name comes from two places, the pork on the menu and the fact that both owners were born in the year of the pig. Piyapanee said to expect "some Asian flavor surprises." The opening was set for mid-October. In early October, she said the last step was a Fire Department inspection, and that this could "potentially push our opening back a little." Before you plan brunch around it, check whether the doors are open yet. An earlier report said the restaurant might start with brunch and add more meals over time.

CVS, moving into the former Rite Aid

The biggest swap is happening across Mountain Boulevard. CVS has leased the 27,000-square-foot former Rite Aid at 1991 Mountain Blvd. Rite Aid gave up that space when it closed in July 2025 during its bankruptcy liquidation. By mid-September, the lights were on and shelves were being stocked, and the move was expected to wrap up by December. Back in July, CVS had already cleared out the middle of its current store so customers could reach the pharmacy at the back more easily.

When CVS finishes its move, the 27,000-square-foot Rite Aid space that has sat empty since July 2025 will be in use again. The same move will empty CVS's smaller current storefront, and no one has announced what will go there. That makes it the next space to watch.

Shops already here are changing how they sell

Some of the year's changes happened inside stores that never closed. Healthy Life Vitamins at 6130 Medau Place added a wellness suite with infrared sauna, red-light therapy, aromatherapy and a 4D massage chair. Sales and marketing manager Bree Fletcher told the Mercury News that the suite was meant for customers looking for recovery and wellness, adding, "why not give back to the community?"

At The Shop, 6123 La Salle Ave., owner Ali Baker now runs livestream clothing auctions on Poshmark and Whatnot alongside her in-store sales. She told the East Bay Times that she can sell her upscale European clothing online on days when foot traffic in the Village is slow. Up to 30 people join at a time, and the auctions help keep her inventory fresh.

One more space is still in limbo. On Thornhill Drive, the pumps at Montclair Gas & Auto Care were still shut in September while the station waited on state-required upgrades. The garage is open for repairs only.

Your next few Sundays and one Thursday

The things that bring people into the Village every week haven't moved.

• Montclair Farmers Market: Every Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, at La Salle and Moraga. Details are on the Montclair Village Association site.
• Holiday Stroll: Thursday, December 10, 4 to 8 p.m. It's free, with Santa photos, live music and caroling, a family zone, shopping and vendors. The 2026 lineup hasn't been posted yet on the Holiday Stroll page. It will also be the first Stroll after CVS's planned move.
• Trails nearby: The East Bay Regional Park District's alerts page lists repair closures on Redwood Regional Park's Stream Trail that started August 24. The segment at the Old Church Picnic site is closed through October 31. The second wooden footbridge on Temescal's Lower West Shore Trail has been closed for refurbishment since September 10, and it will reopen when the work is done.

Curious about Piggie's opening date, what goes into CVS's old space, or how storefront changes in the Village line up with your own plans in Montclair? The DiMaggio Betta Group keeps a close eye on these blocks and would love to compare notes. Get in Touch.