The garden center at the old Orchard Supply Hardware has a roof that lets light through on one side. Each spring it used to fill with flats of annuals and bags of potting soil. Under the plan the City of Pleasant Hill announced last fall, that same semi-outdoor corner of 155 Crescent Plaza will hold a row of small restaurants serving sushi, ramen, chicken karaage and bento boxes.
The tenant is Osaka Marketplace, a Japanese grocery company with stores in Fremont and Foster City. As of early October, its Pleasant Hill store was expected to open in November. Most coverage calls it a grocery store. The bigger change for downtown is the market hall: the largest building on Crescent Plaza is coming back as somewhere you might go for lunch.
A big building that sat empty for a long time
In August 2018, the local site Beyond the Creek reported that Orchard Supply Hardware planned to close all of its stores by the end of that year. The Pleasant Hill store was on the list. When the City announced Osaka Marketplace on October 15, 2025, it still described the 42,000-square-foot space as vacant.
Meanwhile, the blocks around it kept filling in. The City's release lists recent downtown openings: Cantina Jack's, Paris Baguette, Crumbs Breakfast & Lunch Bar, The Royale, Morgan Territory Brewing and the Batter N' Icing cupcakery. Those are restaurants, a bakery and a brewery. The former hardware store was the gap, and it was a large one.
Here is how the timeline has moved since the announcement:
- October 15, 2025. The City's press release introduces Osaka Marketplace and expects it to open in mid-2026.
- April 2026. Early signage goes up on the building, as Bay Area Telegraph reported.
- September 18, 2026. Bay Area Telegraph reports that the mid-2026 target has passed with no grand-opening date announced, and that the company is now hiring for "all positions" and "all departments" in Pleasant Hill.
- October 1, 2026. WhatNow cites a Visit Pleasant Hill social post and says the store is preparing to open "in November."
- Saturday, October 17. A company job-fair poster calls for fish, meat, kitchen and sushi staff at 155 Crescent Plaza from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
No exact opening day has been announced. The Downtown Pleasant Hill store directory still lists Osaka Marketplace as "Coming Soon."
Why the garden center matters more than the grocery aisles
The City calls the concept a "grocerant," meaning a grocery store and several small restaurants under one roof. The grocery side covers Japanese groceries, fresh produce, seafood, ready-to-eat meals and imported goods that are hard to find elsewhere. General Manager Kazuhiro Takeda summed it up in the City's release:
"Osaka Marketplace will bring the flavors of Japan to Pleasant Hill."
What makes this new for Pleasant Hill is the plan to reuse the old garden center as a semi-outdoor market hall with several small restaurants. A grocery store is an errand. A market hall with sushi, ramen and karaage stalls is a reason to come by at noon on a weekday, or to meet someone there.
The company's Fremont store shows how this works day to day. Its food court serves from noon to 3:30 p.m. daily. Foster City runs a hot buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays and until 4 p.m. on weekends. WhatNow's October report says the company's website describes a future Food Hall with multiple dining options for Pleasant Hill. The word "future" leaves open whether every stall will be running on the first day.
Bay Area Telegraph expects the opening to draw shoppers from across Central Contra Costa County, including people who now drive to Fremont or the Peninsula for Japanese groceries and prepared food. If that's right, downtown Pleasant Hill picks up a regional draw it hasn't had before, a few blocks from the restaurants that already line Crescent Drive.
Mayor Sue Noack put it this way in the City's release: "A mix of local and national retailers provides Pleasant Hill residents a diversity of products and price options to choose from."
What Foster City's opening suggests about the first weeks
The best preview is the most recent store. Osaka Marketplace opened in Foster City's former Lucky Supermarket at 919 Edgewater Blvd. on Friday, December 12, 2025. A ceremony began at 9 a.m. and the doors opened at 10 a.m. The company's announcement listed a taiko performance, a Dassai sake ceremony, a ribbon cutting, in-store promotions all weekend, and gourmet goodie bags for the first 100 shoppers on each of the opening Friday, Saturday and Sunday. KRON4 reported the date on November 26, 2025, a little over two weeks ahead.
If Pleasant Hill follows that pattern, the date may come with only a couple of weeks' notice. The first 100 goodie bags will go to whoever lines up early.
Once Foster City was open, JapanUp described the shelves: seafood, Wagyu, homemade bento, rare snacks and pantry staples, Japanese beauty and self-care products, sake and craft beer.
Here is what's published for the existing stores and what's still unannounced for Pleasant Hill:
| Fremont | Foster City | Pleasant Hill | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily hours | 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. | 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Not yet announced |
| Prepared food | Food court, noon to 3:30 p.m. | Hot buffet, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, to 4 p.m. weekends | Market hall planned in the garden center |
| Party-tray pre-order | Pickup available | "Coming soon" | Not yet announced |
Two details are useful before opening day. The pre-order page says sushi and sashimi party trays need at least two days' notice, though pickup is currently offered only in Fremont. And WhatNow reports a free rewards program: one point per dollar spent, each point worth one cent, and points that don't expire.
The rest of downtown's November calendar
The opening lands during the busiest stretch of the year for downtown events.
- Pleasant Hill Tree of Lights, Wednesday, November 4, 5:30 p.m. Hospice East Bay holds its ceremony at 100 Gregory Lane, which the organization lists as a new location this year. Details are on the Hospice East Bay event page.
- Presents from Plants, Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to noon. The Northern California Unit of The Herb Society of America leads an herbal holiday gift-making session at Rodgers Ranch Heritage Center, 315 Cortsen Road.
- Light Up The Night, Saturday, November 21, 6 to 8 p.m. The City of Pleasant Hill and the Downtown Merchants host performances, crafts, caroling and the tree lighting near Chipotle in Downtown Pleasant Hill. The event listing has the details.
The calendar continues into December with A Merry Morning with Santa on December 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., near Jack's Restaurant & Bar.
If Osaka Marketplace opens before November 21, the tree lighting will be the first big downtown evening with the old hardware store open again. If it opens later, the building will still be dark that night.
One more opening is further out, on the other side of town. The East Bay Times reported in August that Morucci's Deli is planning a Pleasant Hill location across from Diablo Valley College, targeting next spring. WhatNow put it at 236 Golf Club Road and reported that it will share the space with Lever Coffee.
I've watched Downtown Pleasant Hill change for a long time, and I'd like to hear what you think once you've had lunch in that old garden center. If a busier Crescent Plaza has you wondering what it means for your home's value, Dean Okamura is glad to talk it through. Let's connect.
