The pharmacy has closed at the Montclair Rite Aid, and the store will be empty by the end of July. It will leave a big hole in the heart of the Oakland hills’ Montclair Village commercial district, along with the newly-shuttered Chase Bank branch at the corner of Mountain Boulevard and La Salle Avenue (now relocated to 2051 Mountain Blvd).
The charming structure that Chase Bank just vacated has a sweet spot in Montclair Village history. Many Montclarions remember when the Carriage House Inn and Restaurant operated there years ago, only with a bigger square footage. The building is architecturally interesting and should be attractive to commercial tenants. The Rite Aid space, however, is much bigger and until it’s leased will certainly leave a void in Montclair.
Another goodbye: Folks’ Art, the arts and crafts collective that was at 6123 La Salle Ave., has also closed permanently. Owner Anh Nguyen says family health issues have forced her decision to move the shop’s merchandise to her store in Oakland’s Chinatown (920 Webster St.) by this October. It’s a bittersweet decision because Folks’ Art turned 50 this year, starting out as a collective of 15 artists and craftspeople in 1975.
“I opened in Montclair 8 years ago and will really miss the neighborhood and the customers,” says Nguyen, adding that “I always felt safe up here.”
Progress made: The Oakland City Council has voted unanimously to approve a proposal restoring Montclair’s storybook firehouse at 6226 Moraga Ave. The property has been abandoned for 36 years and is in what the district’s Councilmember Janani Ramachandran calls “serious, derelict condition.”
Nancy Lehrkind, the Grubb Co. broker associate who is spearheading the project, has been sounding the alarm on this landmark building’s condition, citing knee-high, hazardous debris, food waste and even animal carcasses on the property.
“Their [the council’s] unanimous resolution simply directs the city administrator to negotiate a lease with us,” says Lehrkind, whose nonprofit organization will use private contributions and volunteers to retrofit and renovate the building as a community art center. Lehrkind envisions a small venue for visual and performing arts, along with a community meeting space.
“When completed … this building will have one large open Grand Hall with a soaring, cathedral ceiling,” says Lehrkind, who adds that there’ll be a stage in the Grand Hall for live performances. For more details online and to show your support, visit montclairfirehouseartscenter.org.
Business break-ins: Three Montclair businesses were burglarized last week in the middle of the night. At one of them, Five Spiced Kitchen, thieves sawed through the padlock on the gated fence, turned on the lights and grabbed cash and higher-end tequila.
Spicy veggies: A new Oakland-based pickler is the latest vendor to sell at the Montclair Farmers Market. It’s Hot in Here makes gourmet, small-batch spicy pickled vegetables, along with their signature spicy pickled onions. The owners use locally sourced ingredients and a blend of peppers, including jalapeño, fresno, serrano and habanero varieties.
Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.