When Andre Iguodala came to A Great Good Place for Books to promote his memoir, the line stretched out the door and all the way to the Mexican restaurant around the corner. Owner Kathleen Caldwell told The Oaklandside it was one of her favorite events. The store also hosted Harry Potter parties, repeat visits from bestselling novelists like Taylor Jenkins Reid, and a book club that had been meeting for 10 years.
The shop on La Salle Avenue closed after its last day of business on Sunday, June 14. For nearly three decades it ran its own events calendar and drew its own crowds to Montclair Village. Since June, the Montclair Village Association has been doing more of that work, through plaza events, a public art program and the Holiday Stroll on Dec. 10. Meanwhile, several of the village's longtime storefronts are changing hands.
The store that brought in its own crowds
Debi Echlin and Helen Talley founded A Great Good Place for Books in 1997, and Caldwell took it over in 2005. "You name the author," she told The Oaklandside, "I've probably done an event with them."
Caldwell said December 2025 was the bookstore's slowest holiday shopping season since 2008. She also told The Oaklandside that Sunday parking meter enforcement had cut into foot traffic. So even a shop with author events, a long-running book club and decades of loyal customers had its weakest December in 17 years.
The store was also part of the village's biggest night of the year. At the 2025 Holiday Stroll, it hosted storytime on the hour for kids, led by the Montclair branch of the Oakland Public Library, plus an evening reading for adults. This year's stroll will be the first without it.
Storefronts changing hands this year
The bookstore was one of several departures in 2026. Most of the other spaces already have a successor working toward opening or a new use.
| Address | Previous occupant | What is there now or coming |
|---|---|---|
| Former Grinders space, Antioch Court | Grinders, open 35 years until owner Peter York retired | Go Banh Mi & Tea |
| 6200 Antioch St. | Pagarung Thai Cuisine | Piggie's, a mother-daughter bistro |
| 2058 Mountain Blvd. | Perle, a wine bar open nine years | A Montclair Blooms wildflower mural on its old dining parklet |
| 1991 Mountain Blvd. | Rite Aid, closed July 2025 | Leased by CVS Pharmacy |
| La Salle Avenue | A Great Good Place for Books | Last day June 14, 2026 |
Grinders to Go Banh Mi. According to the East Bay Times, the new Go Banh Mi location is going into the space Grinders occupied for many years on Antioch Court. On the Village Association's Halloween roster, it appears as Go Banh Mi & Tea at 2066 Mountain Blvd. The Go Banh Mi website takes catering orders with a $200 minimum. The menu includes grilled beef, pork, chicken, tofu and fried egg bánh mì.
Pagarung to Piggie's. Piggie's comes from Alex Piyapanee, a bartender and sommelier who worked at Daughter Thai for 11 years, and her mother, who has a hotel background and wrote many of the recipes. Piyapanee told the East Bay Times that she expects her mother's savory morning porridge, an oatmeal with assorted mushrooms, to be a signature dish. An Asian braised pork dish is on the menu too. The name partly comes from the fact that both women were born in the year of the pig. The space is behind Safeway.
Rite Aid to CVS. CVS Pharmacy has leased the 27,000-square-foot former Rite Aid at 1991 Mountain Blvd. In September, the East Bay Times reported that the lights were on and shelves were being stocked, and that the move was expected to be complete by December. Once it is, CVS's smaller store across the street will be empty.
The Montclair Plaza shoe repair shop also closed for good this year.
Not every recent change is a loss. Highwire Coffee reopened in the village this summer and is listed at 2059 Mountain Blvd. A short drive away at 5761 Thornhill Drive, Payakk has been serving chef Nattaporn "Pinpech's" seasonal Thai menu since fall 2025, according to The Oaklandside. Her husband designed its interior.
What the Village Association programmed this year
Until a new tenant arrives, an empty storefront brings nobody to the village. The Montclair Village Association spent this year filling some of that gap with its own events.
Its 2026 Picnic on the Plaza series ran three Sundays at Village Plaza, 2066 Antioch Court:
- Health & Wellness, Aug. 23
- Salsa & Sangria, Sept. 20, with dancing and picnic-table dining on the plaza
- Halloween Fun, Oct. 25, the series finale
The Halloween event had a practical purpose. The East Bay Times noted that the hills' steep streets make trick-or-treating hard, and that the village was stepping in to help. Free treat bags from Flair Travel and Pelago sent kids to farmers' market vendors and to shops along Mountain Boulevard, Antioch Court and La Salle Avenue. Participants included Full Belly Bakery, Sliver Pizzeria, Ohg Burger, Montclair Toyhouse, Crogan's and Mountain Mike's Pizza. The day worked as a walking tour of who is open in the village right now.
The second effort is visual. Montclair Blooms is a Village Association initiative led by Montclair artist Minnie Bredouw, a former creative director at Pinterest, with local artists Nivi Ramesh Brett, Ophelia Ding and Stephanie Lewis. Their first piece covers the wooden dining parklet that Perle built during the pandemic. The weathered structure is now painted with Indian paintbrush, California tidytips and lupine. Daniel Swafford, the Village Association's executive director, told the East Bay Times that the goal is for more public art to "sprout up" in the village to attract business and bring the community together.
The next mural may go on the retaining wall near the tennis and pickleball courts. The project is volunteer-run and accepts donations through Montclair Blooms.
The calendar through December
All of this leads up to the 24th annual Holiday Stroll, the Village Association's largest event, on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 4 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. Here is what's on the village calendar from now through mid-December:
- Every Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Montclair Village Farmers' Market at La Salle Avenue and Moraga Avenue.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 to 11 a.m. A Friends of Montclair Railroad Trail workday at 1901–1903 Asilomar Drive.
- Thursday, Dec. 10, 4 to 8 p.m. The Holiday Stroll, with photos with Santa, live music and caroling, craft beverages, a family zone, artisan vendors and holiday shopping.
- Saturday, Dec. 19, 9 to 11 a.m. Another Railroad Trail workday at the same Asilomar Drive location.
Last year's stroll drew in more than 40 village businesses with promotions, treats and extended hours. The bookstore's storytime was one of them. For anyone driving in on Dec. 10, the Village Association points to the Montclair Garage at 6235 La Salle Ave., which has plenty of parking.
Montclair Village is changing one storefront at a time, and the Anthony Riggins Team follows those changes closely for the hills homeowners who live around it. If you're wondering how the village's next chapter affects a home in Montclair, Merriewood or Thornhill, we're glad to talk it through. Work With Us.
