Romleys Market Pleasanton,CA
Fomer Romleys Market located at 3550 Bernal Ave. in Pleasanton,CA. The building was constructed in 1978 for Flair Markets. This was the first Flair to be built from the ground up as every other location throughout the East Bay Area had orignally been a P&X Market. The store was sold to the Romley family in the mid 1980s marking their return the to the Tri-Valley after they closed their successful Dublin store after Highway 580 was realligned. While the Flair name has been largely forgotten by many longtime residents of the East Bay the "Romleys" name is still remembered more than fifteen years later since the Romley brothers closed their last store. The Pleasaton location successfully operated until 1992 and was the last Romleys Market to open, the Castro Valley location (which was the first) closed in the mid 1990's. For a few months after Romleys closed the building was acquired by a middle-eastern man who claimed that the Romley family neglected the building forcing him to close. The Romley family (rightfully) ignored his claims and focused on their Castro Valley store. I must add that by the early 1990s the Romley brothers were reaching their 70s. The Pleasanton store was abandoned by 1996 as the middle-eastern man who despite his claims (in my opinion just wanted money from the Romley family) gave up and closed the store. In 2004 the shopping center was abandoned except for a cleaners and a beauty salon. There was a proposal for a Bonfare Convenience Store to operate a 24 Hour store in the building but the idea was met poorly (to say the least) with the residents of the area which make far more than the average household income. I was amazed that a neglected shopping center remained standing despite this fact, but the cleaners and salon WERE NOT going to leave thus preventing demolition. In 2007 the property was purchased by a new realty company and while a few modifactions were made to the shopping center in 2008 nothing major had yet to happen. Then during the Spring of 2009 the shopping center was drastically remodeled with the hopes of attracting tenants to the newly redeveloped center. The remodel proved successful and as of September 2010 one half of the storefronts are occupied. Unfortunately the building orignally housing Romleys is still vacant but hopefully that might change with the dedication and money the property owners have put into the site.
In 1978...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1351613677/
In 2002...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2025157469/
In 2004...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1350307305/
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/799147434/
In 2007...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1818931296/
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1818092201/
UPDATE: On May 15th 2013 the building which had been vacant for close to 25 years is now occupied by the Santa Cruz based chain known as New Leaf Community Markets. The company made its first expansion out of the Central Coast by expanding in 2008 to a former Alpha Beta Market located in Half Moon Bay which has been an extremely great addition to the town. I hope New Leaf will be successful in this long abandoned shopping center and be a valuable asset to the community!
Romleys Market Pleasanton,CA
Fomer Romleys Market located at 3550 Bernal Ave. in Pleasanton,CA. The building was constructed in 1978 for Flair Markets. This was the first Flair to be built from the ground up as every other location throughout the East Bay Area had orignally been a P&X Market. The store was sold to the Romley family in the mid 1980s marking their return the to the Tri-Valley after they closed their successful Dublin store after Highway 580 was realligned. While the Flair name has been largely forgotten by many longtime residents of the East Bay the "Romleys" name is still remembered more than fifteen years later since the Romley brothers closed their last store. The Pleasaton location successfully operated until 1992 and was the last Romleys Market to open, the Castro Valley location (which was the first) closed in the mid 1990's. For a few months after Romleys closed the building was acquired by a middle-eastern man who claimed that the Romley family neglected the building forcing him to close. The Romley family (rightfully) ignored his claims and focused on their Castro Valley store. I must add that by the early 1990s the Romley brothers were reaching their 70s. The Pleasanton store was abandoned by 1996 as the middle-eastern man who despite his claims (in my opinion just wanted money from the Romley family) gave up and closed the store. In 2004 the shopping center was abandoned except for a cleaners and a beauty salon. There was a proposal for a Bonfare Convenience Store to operate a 24 Hour store in the building but the idea was met poorly (to say the least) with the residents of the area which make far more than the average household income. I was amazed that a neglected shopping center remained standing despite this fact, but the cleaners and salon WERE NOT going to leave thus preventing demolition. In 2007 the property was purchased by a new realty company and while a few modifactions were made to the shopping center in 2008 nothing major had yet to happen. Then during the Spring of 2009 the shopping center was drastically remodeled with the hopes of attracting tenants to the newly redeveloped center. The remodel proved successful and as of September 2010 one half of the storefronts are occupied. Unfortunately the building orignally housing Romleys is still vacant but hopefully that might change with the dedication and money the property owners have put into the site.
In 1978...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1351613677/
In 2002...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2025157469/
In 2004...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1350307305/
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/799147434/
In 2007...
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1818931296/
www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1818092201/
UPDATE: On May 15th 2013 the building which had been vacant for close to 25 years is now occupied by the Santa Cruz based chain known as New Leaf Community Markets. The company made its first expansion out of the Central Coast by expanding in 2008 to a former Alpha Beta Market located in Half Moon Bay which has been an extremely great addition to the town. I hope New Leaf will be successful in this long abandoned shopping center and be a valuable asset to the community!