If you have driven to Rheem Valley Shopping Center since October 19, you have probably hit the barricades. On that day the Town of Moraga closed the private Center Street driveway, which links the center to the traffic signal at Rheem Boulevard, after crews found the storm drain under it had deteriorated. The closure also blocks the Park Street end, the stretch in front of Nations and Subway that leads to the Rheem Theatre. So for now, the busiest way into the center's oldest corner is shut.
The center has had a lot of recent news, including a repaint, a card shop, a planned Chipotle and a Grocery Outlet whose opening keeps moving. All of it lands on a shopping center that has replaced nearly every tenant at least once since 1954. One business has never changed. That is the 1957 movie house on Park Street, and the rest of this fall's changes make the most sense when you see them in relation to it.
Getting in while Center Street is closed
The Town's October 19 notice says every business at Rheem stays open. It also explains what changed for drivers:
- The Center Street driveway from the Rheem Boulevard signal is closed to all vehicles. The driveway and the storm drain under it are on private property, so the owners are the ones planning the repair.
- The Park Street to Center Street connection is also closed. That is the stretch in front of Nations and Subway.
- Use the Moraga Road driveways. The Town names these as the way to reach parking.
- Follow the posted signs and barricades. According to the notice, some traffic inside the center could start moving again once traffic controls and alternate routes are in place. Other areas stay closed until they are repaired or judged safe.
- Know who to call. JLL handles questions about the center, the repairs and detours inside the lot at 415-968-3513. Town of Moraga Public Works takes questions about Rheem Boulevard itself at 925-888-7026.
The notice did not give a reopening date. Before a trip to the movies, check the Town's News Flash page for the latest on access. If you are going to the Rheem Theatre at 350 Park Street, allow a few extra minutes for the loop around from Moraga Road.
Longtime Moraga residents have seen a failed storm drain cause trouble before. News24-680's report on the closure ran under a photo captioned "Chuck The Sinkhole," aka "The Great Depression."
Five grocery stores, one theater
In January, Lamorinda Weekly published a look back at the center's first decades, with help from the Moraga Historical Society. It reads like a list of replacements. Clark's Market opened with the center in 1954, and four more grocery stores followed it. The paper says only one business has stayed the same apart from modern upgrades: the Rheem Theatre, open since 1957.
Here is the turnover, as the paper recorded it:
| What's there now | What used to be there |
|---|---|
| T.J. Maxx | Safeway |
| Home Goods | Apple Market, and before that Petrini's, dated 1986 in the history |
| Saint Mary's College annex | Lucky Store |
| 24 Hour Fitness | Thrifty's Drug Store, known for its oddly shaped scoops of ice cream |
| Nations, Subway and a pet shop that has since closed | Charles Drugs |
| Moraga Art Gallery | Beaubell's Real Estate |
| Dover Saddlery | Neldam's Bakery |
| Post office | Jo and Eve's Variety Store, which also sold donuts |
| Dollar Tree, since around 2011 | Blockbuster Video |
| CVS, since 2008 | Longs Drugs, which opened in 1984 |
| Taco Bell | T-Bone Drive In |
| Rheem Valley Automotive, since 1998 | Crocker Citizens Bank |
| Rheem Theatre | Rheem Theatre, since 1957 |
The lost businesses that come up most in the history include the Rheem Valley Bowl, which Donald L. Rheem built in 1960. It had a Fireside Lounge, bumper bowling for kids, and leagues for adults. The last pin fell in July 1999. Across Moraga Road, Rheem Veterinary Hospital has been at the same address since the 1960s.
The paper puts the most recent wave of closures down to COVID or online shopping. On that list, the theater is the steady part of the center and almost everything else has been replaced.
The spot next to the theater that sat empty for years
The newest opening at Rheem took a storefront because of where it sits. In August, brothers Ben and Matt Scheve, both Moraga residents, opened Zenbrosbreaks at 354 Park Street, right next to the Rheem Theatre. It sells sports cards and trading card games such as Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering and One Piece. Ben told Lamorinda Weekly why they picked it:
"We saw this spot [the store's location] open for years and decided it was perfect. We're happy to do this for the kids in the community."
In the same interview, the brothers said business has been "a pretty good, steady flow every day," and added, "The after-school rush gets a little crazy at times, and we do get the theatre crowd." Matt said anyone in Moraga who wanted to trade cards used to have to go "far, like to Danville." The brothers also told the paper they plan to hold trade nights around town where kids can come with their parents.
So a storefront next to the one business that never left stood empty for years. Then it filled with a shop that counts moviegoers as part of its customer base. That same stretch of Park Street is where the October closure now blocks drivers.
A new coat of paint and a sixth grocery store on the calendar
In July, Lamorinda Weekly reported that the scaffolding had come down at Rheem. Workers had repaired rotting wood and swapped the chocolate brown and dark green exteriors for white and golden-brown, with large gold letters naming each business. According to the paper, the work began when the Town asked the property owners to spruce up the buildings and make the center more "cheerful."
The grocery store on the way will be Rheem's sixth. Grocery Outlet's planned store covers 17,404 square feet. Its original mid-2026 target slipped after delays from weather, a sewer line and county issues. At the September 9 Town Council meeting, the town manager said the store was expected to open in March or April 2027. Bay Area Telegraph reported on October 12 that the spring window is an estimate, not a firm grand-opening date. If it opens on that schedule, Rheem will have a grocery store again more than seventy years after Clark's Market started the line.
The July report also said a Chipotle is planned to replace the Bank of America ATM near Taco Bell, without giving an opening date. That small spot in the parking lot is on its third use at least. It held a Fotomat kiosk before the ATM went in.
What the Town says it wants next
Town Manager Scott Mitnick gave an economic development update at the June 24 council meeting. As Lamorinda Weekly reported it, he said, "This community is clamoring for positive redevelopment." He also said the goal is a more self-sustaining local economy, not the density of Walnut Creek or Palo Alto. In January, the Town hired Kosmont Companies under a one-year, $60,000 agreement for real estate and economic development advice. Rheem has several property owners, and U.S. Realty Partners is the largest.
The same report said Saint Mary's College's Rheem Campus is on the market and Kosmont is in discussions with the college about redeveloping the site. The report gave no timeline.
None of those plans will change your next errand run. Until the owners repair the storm drain and reopen Center Street, use the Moraga Road driveways to reach the 1957 movie house, the new card shop next to it, and Nations and Subway.
If you want to talk about how the center's next round, from Grocery Outlet's spring opening to whatever comes of the Saint Mary's site, might shape your corner of Moraga, she is glad to have that conversation. Reach out to Gillian Judge Hogan and Work With Gillian.
