Two new places to buy food opened in Pittsburg within three weeks of each other this fall. On Sept. 19, Cielo Supermarket opened at Highlands Square on Buchanan Road, in an anchor space that had been empty since 2019. Earlier that month, on Sept. 2, a Wednesday farmers market started on the City Hall Lawn. Both depend on deals the city made, and each deal is built so that local shopping decides part of what happens next.
What moved into the old Raley's space
Cielo Supermarket took about 25,000 square feet of the 58,000-square-foot anchor at 1375 Buchanan Road. That space housed Raley's and later Food Source. The store has fresh produce, a full-service meat department, a deli, a bakery, a juice bar, a tortillería, and a taqueria with indoor seating.
The taqueria is called Cocina de Lupita. Cielo's menu page lists tamales, mole, chiles rellenos, carnitas, chicharrónes, carne asada, burritos, tacos, tortas, ceviches, and agua fresca. Owner Hector Gomez showed CBS News Bay Area around after opening and described the kitchen this way: "Full kitchen above all the classic burritos, tacos, but we also have specialty items like carnitas, chicharrónes." He said the store had "about 100 team members at the moment."
This is Cielo's second store and its flagship. Hector and Fabiola Gomez founded the company in 2021, starting with a store in Antioch. The Antioch store is at 1818 A Street, according to the East Bay Times' 2021 coverage of its opening. Cielo's website lists hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. The listing doesn't say which store it covers, so call the Buchanan Road location before a late run.
How a seven-year vacancy ended
After Food Source closed in 2019, the city and property owner Sierra Pacific Properties spent years recruiting another grocer. Residents organized a rally to show grocery chains there was demand. Neighbors told CBS that the gap had made the area "a bit of a food desert."
Talks with Cielo started in 2024. In October 2025, the City Council voted unanimously for a $120,000 economic development incentive. It has two parts:
- A $77,500 building permit fee credit.
- A performance-based rebate equal to 50% of the city's quarterly sales-tax receipts from the store, capped at $42,500.
The second part only pays out as people shop there. The city returns half of its quarterly sales-tax take from Cielo until the rebate reaches the cap, so the payout grows with the store's sales. "For several years, residents have consistently shared that they wanted a grocery store back in this neighborhood," Mayor Dionne Adams said in the city's announcement, calling the opening "a meaningful win for the neighborhood and our entire city."
Early reports are good. Hoodline's Sept. 26 follow-up cited Gomez saying the response had been "overwhelmingly positive." It also quoted a longtime local shopper who said she would finally have a grocery store five minutes from home. Fabiola Gomez put it this way in the city release: "We have heard from Pittsburg residents how much they have missed having a grocery store in this location, and our family is honored to be part of bringing it back."
The Wednesday market is on a six-month trial
The farmers market came to town with clearer conditions. It runs every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the City Hall Lawn, directly behind City Hall at 65 Civic Ave. The city's listing says it runs rain or shine. The Old Town farmers market hadn't operated in nearly 10 years, according to contracosta.news.
The midweek, midday schedule came up at the June council meeting. Councilmember Arlene Kobata passed along public concerns about the lack of weekend hours. City staff said they picked Wednesday because no other Contra Costa County market runs that day, weekends were already crowded, and the operator's vendors already had commitments elsewhere in the county. City Manager Darin Gale told contracosta.news that the market would need community support to last beyond its six-month pilot:
"If people don't show, the vendors will die off. This was a vendor that has some farmers that will come out. Middle of the week, during the day, people will say why isn't it on the weekend? The vendors already have days set to be somewhere else in the county."
Gale added that the city was open to changes if needed and would help promote the market. Counting six months from the Sept. 2 start puts the end of the pilot around early March 2027. The city calendar describes the market as running "all year long," so it's unclear how the pilot timeline and that wording fit together.
The sources also disagree on who runs it. The July 20 council agenda approved a license agreement with Your Community Farmers Advocate. A city-written notice in the Contra Costa Herald says Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association organized it and expected more than 20 vendors selling produce, prepared foods, baked goods, coffee, flowers, and local goods. No vendor list or attendance numbers had been published as of Oct. 11, and none of the sources say whether the market takes CalFresh/EBT.
Where each stop fits
The third piece of the picture opened earlier. Sprouts Farmers Market opened at 2201 W. Leland Road in The Shoppes at San Marco on June 27, 2025, according to the company's announcement. With Cielo, that's two full-service grocery stores opening in Pittsburg in roughly 14 months.
| Cielo Supermarket | Sprouts Farmers Market | Pittsburg Farmers Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address | 1375 Buchanan Road, Highlands Square | 2201 W. Leland Road, The Shoppes at San Marco | City Hall Lawn, 65 Civic Ave. |
| Opened | Sept. 19, 2026 | June 27, 2025 | Sept. 2, 2026 |
| Listed hours | 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, per Cielo's site | 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, per the 2025 opening announcement | Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. |
| What's distinct | Tortillería, bakery, juice bar, Cocina de Lupita taqueria | Chain grocer at the San Marco end of town | Local farmers, artisans, and prepared foods |
| How the city is involved | $120,000 incentive, partly tied to sales | None reported | Six-month pilot under a city license agreement |
The schedules matter for planning. The farmers market is the only one of the three with a weekday window, so shopping there means a Wednesday morning or lunch break. Cielo's taqueria works for weekday lunch or weekend breakfast. The hours listed for both stores run into the evening. Wednesday at City Hall now joins the Thursday nights on Railroad Avenue from our summer guide to Pittsburg's weekly loop as a fixed day on the town calendar.
What's still unsettled at Highlands Square
Cielo uses less than half of the old anchor. None of the sources say what will fill the remaining space of more than 30,000 square feet, and no new Highlands Square tenants have been announced. Hector Gomez told CBS the family wants to open more local grocery stores around the Bay Area, and Hoodline reported that no sites or timeline have been announced. The farmers market's pilot window runs into early 2027, and the city manager has tied its future to Wednesday turnout.
For homeowners on the Buchanan Road side, having a full-service grocery store back at Highlands Square is a practical change, and it's the kind of everyday detail buyers ask about. If you're thinking about what neighborhood additions like Cielo mean for your home's value, The Lucas Group can walk you through it. Request a home valuation or browse our Pittsburg neighborhood page, then Get in Touch.
