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The long-deteriorating, nearly empty Vintage Hills shopping center that was once facing the wrecking ball is bouncing back to a viable retail center with the announcement this week that a Santa Cruz-based organic food market will move into the old Romley’s supermarket space.

“The market is New Leaf Community Market with an emphasis on organics and sustainability, and would be a good fit for the center and the nearby neighborhoods,” said Pleasanton Councilwoman Cheryl Cook-Kallio “New Leaf will occupy about 20,000 square feet in the area that the previous grocery store was located.”

The process of revitalizing the shopping center has been painfully slow for the 10,000 and more residents who live in Vintage Hills and the newer communities east of there.

Work to repair and rebuild the 35-year-old complex began in earnest after a partnership bought the center from local investor James Tong who planned to redevelop the 5-acre property with two- and three-story apartments and condominiums, with first floor retail businesses, similar to what Dublin has approved on Tassajara Road.

But he abandoned the plan after failing to get enough support from the Pleasanton City Council.

Until last year, only the profitable Cutt Co. and Vintage Hills Cleaners remained as the center’s last two tenants as the new retail center owners remodeled and began marketing their property. They’ve been partly successful with a dance studio, Japanese restaurant, workout gym and coffee and yogurt shops moving in.

But until now, the empty grocery store that many in Vintage Hills fondly remembered as once housing Flair Market and later Romley’s brought little interest. Fresh & Easy, Trader Joe’s and other smaller groceries turned down bids to move into the center.

This will be New Leaf Community Markets sixth store. A 25-year-old business, New Leaf has its flagship store in the historic Bank of America building on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz. Other stores are located in Half Moon Bay, Boulder Creek, Capitola and Felton.

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3 Comments

  1. What wonderful news! It has been sooo long coming! I remember fondly walking down to Flair, Ben Franklin & Baskin Robbins when I was a kid. It will be great to have a grocery store closer to home. I hope this actually happens!

  3. Unfortuantely, it will be closed in 6 months. There’s more to California cuisine than granola and tofu.
    By the way, are they employing union labor? No?! Where’s all the so-called labor leaders who were fighting a new WalMart at the old Nob hill site. Big and successful=bad. Small and eclectic=bound to fail.

  4. Thank goodness this is happening. I will definately shop there. When is the projected opening date? Tell us more!

  6. YAY!!!!! Is there any estimate yet as to how long renovations will take and how long before opening day? We’ve been waiting too long for a grocery store here! Just hoping it’s not overpriced…

  7. As someone who worked @ Flair while going to college and now living in Pleasanton, it has always been a personal sore spot that the place stood empty. This is great news! I’ll most certainly check it out!

  9. This is another good change for Pleasanton!! I will definitely shop there if prices are not outrageous. When is it projected to open?

  10. I”m so glad to hear there will be a store right here in Pleasanton that will feature organic and sustainably grown foods! I hope there will be a good variety of fresh foods that are locally grown/raised. When will it open?

  12. I am so happy to hear this! There was no good reason for this center to be vacant and I’ve watched hopefully as the tenant spaces have started to fill in. This is just what we needed!

  14. This is the best news for our neighborhood and for downtown! We’ll walk here and will really enjoy having organic choices nearby without having to drive to Whole Foods in San Ramon. This market will make it, there are plenty of people who will be happy to have access to pesticide free foods. When will they be opening, before Safeway’s new store on Bernal and Valley? Welcome New Leaf!

  15. Yes I am so excited I won’t be able to sleep. I currently drive to Santa Cruz to shop this store. The butcher shop beats everything I have seen or ever tasted – and the produce is right up there with the farmers market.

  17. Finally! Looking forward to trying it out… There is enough local competition to keep prices in check. They won’t fail if they get the communitie’s support! Everyone who’s been hoping for this for years – make it a priority to stop in at least once a week!
    When is opening day?

  20. for Steve in the parkside neighborhood with the negative comment-Please just stay on your side of town an shop at Luckys and Trader Joes. Hope you car doesn’t get smashed while in that Trader joes lot.

  21. I am with you, Nancy. Steve, please take your negativity and go away. New Leaf is an awesome place to shop, and I will be there on opening day!

  22. Stop complaining and just support the business and the tax benefits to Pleasanton. Might be a good idea to eat some healthy food too even if it costs a bit more.

  23. Steve is right! The southeast Pleasanton (Vintage Hills) liberal elites are at it again! They’re forcing organic, healthy produce down our throats! Any store worth its salt has tons of processed food, soda, meat from China, and low paid workers! God bless Walmart and Chinese made goods!

  25. I personally like the Lucky on Holmes in Livermore. Never will you see a more unreconstructed version of the supermarket you remember from 30 years ago. It’s colorful, garish, fun to walk through, and unapologetically stocks every mass-produced, non-locally-sourced, out-of-fashion, processed and exploitative food item you can think of. And you won’t find a single person in there taking themselves too seriously. It’s great!

  26. I would love to have healthy, local food crammed down my throat. Food is our first medicine and I would rather spend more money on good food than on health care and pharmaceuticals.

    With the economy the way it is, let’s keep our money in our community. Yes big and successful = bad! Small and local = good!

    Thank you New Leaf!!! I can’t wait.

  27. Hurrah!! We’ve been trying to get a grocery store there for 17 years. Now I can just go down the street to my neighborhood coffee shop, get my kids a yogurt, and pick up some bread, milk and eggs without having to drive so far to Safeway or Raleys. I hope they are open on Sunday mornings when I am out of cream for my coffee so I don’t have to drive down to the Dairy in my pjs. If they carried the Sunday NY Times, my life would be perfect. This is so exciting!!!

  28. Cool!!! I’ve heard about them, but never been able to shop there…can’t wait to try it and being “down the street” from me is a bonus. If prices are similar or cheaper than Trader Joe’s I’m there!!!

  29. I have family living near the New Leaf in Boulder Creek. Every time I visit them, I try to find a way to get to that market for their fantastic deli! Nitrite-free meats make for healthier sandwiches and they have delicious and inventive salads, too! The store has a great selection of organic everything! This is the store I’ve been waiting for in Pleasanton! No more schlepping to Whole Foods in San Ramon!

  30. There is nothing sadder than and empty store, so I’m happy to read this item; and if more healthy stores promote healthy eating habits, all the better. Anything that contributes to reducing the community’s collective BMI contributes to a healthier and more scenic Pleasanton.

    Mike

  31. I’ve been to one of the New Leaf stores in Santa Cruz and was really impressed. Pleasanton doesn’t have a store even close to this in terms of organic produce and REAL FOOD, not processed garbage. The Vintage Hills neighborhood is lucky to have this store.

  34. Wow.. Steve… really.. relax, you’re gonna hurt yourself.. this is a grocery store we’re talking about.

    I’ve been to the New Leaf in Half Moon Bay a number of times and it’s an amazing store.. I can’t wait.. FINALLY a decent grocery store in Pleasanton!

  36. steve,

    Don’t worry, I’m sure they will
    pay the workers terribly and offer
    them no benefits…that will make you happy wouldn’t it?

    Or hey what the hell steve, maybe they will employ slaves.

    Quit posting garbage you moron

  37. Adding a market will take away business from other markets… add two markets, or three or four (Safeway, Sprouts, etc.) and someone is going to fail big time.

    Which ones? I would be concerned about Gene’s, Lucky, and Raley’s.

  39. New Leaf is a great store. I’ve been to the one in Santa Cruz many times. It will be a great addition to the Vintage Hills shopping center which has been vacant way too long.
    Another store that everyone should try is Fresh and Easy. They send coupons all the time in the mail (and sometimes it’s $10 off) and the parking is great (unlike TJ’s). They have a lot of prepared meals and great prices on other items, too. If you haven’t given them a chance yet, give them a try. It’s nice that we will have a few small stores to choose from here (Trader Joe’s, Fresh and Easy and New Leaf). If the Walmart store comes, I hope Fresh and Easy and Trader Joe’s don’t suffer since they’ll all be within about a 1/2 mile of one another.

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