09 Oct Pittsburg to Get a New Supermarket; Store to Get $120,000 in Incentives From City

Pittsburg City Council on Monday approved a building permit fee credit and sales tax rebate for Cielo Supermarket, which is expected to open summer 2026 in the city. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Pittsburg is offering $120,000 in incentives to make sure another grocery store can make it in the city, long considered to have low access to food by federal standards and independent analyses.  

The Pittsburg City Council on Monday approved the incentives for the incoming Cielo Supermarket that the city says will activate a vacant space and provide more than 150 local jobs.  

 “Since 2019, we remember back on this council when [Food Source] first closed. We were having conversations about co-ops … going through COVID,” said Mayor Jelani Killings. “I’m excited this is remaining a supermarket, although reduced in size.”  

The package includes a $77,500 building permit fee credit and a $42,500 sales tax rebate remitted at 50% of quarterly tax receipts, according to the agreement. The city estimates that the sales tax rebate will be paid within two years after opening operations.   

Cielo Supermarket said the incentives will help ensure the store is fully stocked and functional for the community, according to the city.  

Located in the Highland Square Shopping Center, the grocer will take over a spot previously occupied by Raley’s and Food Source at 1375 Buchanan Road. Raley’s, which is owned by the same company as Food Source, cited concerns about future sales failing to meet operational costs.  

The full-service supermarket will also include a taqueria, a deli, a tamales station, a juice bar, a bakery, and a tortilleria. Already in the shopping center is a DMV location and businesses including a Starbucks and restaurants serving Vietnamese and Caribbean food. In September, the leasing team also acknowledged the addition of Cielo Supermarket and a Tandoori Pizza location.  

“Feel free to keep sleeping on East Contra Costa County at your own peril,” Stephen Rusher, who closed the deal with Cielo Supermarket, said on social media last month.

Earlier this year, officials welcomed a Sprouts Farmers Market at the Shoppes at San Marco in June, filling a void in an area that the Bay Area News Group said in 2021 hadn’t seen commercial development since 1990. 

Cielo Supermarket, a family-owned business, opened its first location in Antioch in 2021. The business took over the Antioch location after a similar pattern, with Grocery Outlet and Starbucks both leaving that shopping center in three years.

Pittsburg’s location will provide 70 full-time jobs and 20 part-time jobs, according to a report from the city. Another 65 will be temporary construction jobs. 

Cielo Supermarket is expected to open by the summer of 2026, according to the city.