Eye on the Hills: New market on Oakland’s Skyline gaining customers

A new Oakland grocery store is hoping to woo customers away from the big chains. Skyline Community Market has been steadily gaining customers in the Oakland hills since it opened last November. The health-conscious store near the corner of Skyline Boulevard and Redwood Road is owned by brothers Brian and Ish Ahmed, who have another market in San Francisco’s Mission district.

Skyline Community Market is hard to miss if you’re familiar with the neighborhood. A colorful mural on the front of the store depicts a farmer standing by a bounty of produce in a field with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

The mural is fitting, as the first thing you see when you enter the store is rows of fresh fruits and vegetables. The market also carries an eclectic selection of beer and wine along with pantry staples and Mediterranean food for take-out.

“The people have been really welcoming,” says Brian, a longtime Oakland resident.

He says he and his brother hope to draw shoppers up the hill from the nearby Safeway in the Lincoln Square Center. Ironically, the opening of Lincoln Square is what lured shops and customers away from the once-thriving strip mall the new market calls home.

Weed warriors: The goat brigades are munching their way through 1,300 acres of Oakland open space. The city’s recently-passed Vegetation Management Plan still needs funding, but grazing is underway at nine high-risk sites, including Skyline Drive. Keeping fires’ fuel level down is an annual effort, aided by a Peruvian shepherd named Oscar Espinoza. His employer is Ecosystem Concepts Inc., a company hired by the city of Oakland.

In his last job, Espinoza lived in a tent and watched more than 2,000 sheep on a remote stretch of Arizona land. Twice a month he’d get a food box, and his only companion was his horse. Here in the Oakland hills, Espinoza lives in a trailer and can use Zoom and other free platforms to talk with his family in Peru. He has two dogs, including his trusted canine, Kursch, to help protect the goats from predators like coyotes.

When work wraps up in October, Espinoza will head home and the goats will spend the winter nibbling sunflowers and alfalfa on a sweet swath of agricultural land.

Glenview news: The Idil Vice clothing boutique on Park Boulevard is struggling to keep its doors open. The owner has set up a Go Fund Me page to help with expenses that are mounting in the wake of a recent cancer diagnosis.

Montclair expansions: Skin Spirit (2017 Mountain Blvd.) has moved its reception area into the neighboring space it’s been remodeling for the last several months in Montclair Village. Despite what some merchants call hard economic times, at least three Montclair shops are expanding right now, including Yellow Door café and Chase Bank.

Lake walking: Civic leaders hope a new series of group walks will draw fitness fans to Lake Merritt and its environs. Organizers of the Love our Lake campaign and Oakland Walks Wednesdays have launched lunchtime and after-work walks every Wednesday through Labor Day.

The noon strolls start at Children’s Fairyland, and the 5:30 p.m. walkers meet at the Oakland Museum of California. Special offers and discounts are part of the program designed to draw shoppers to Lake Merritt merchants.

Feline ambassadors: Home Depot in Emeryville has a new “cat-egory” of workers — the four-legged kind. Three savvy tabbies roam the cavernous store, mostly sleeping by day and patrolling for pests by night. Two are siblings named Money and Honey, and a store-posted photo shows them in tiny work aprons — in the company’s signature orange, of course.

Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.