Since June, Carmel Valley has added a juice bar, a Hawaiian barbecue spot, a lobster roll counter, a sauna studio, a yoga studio and goop Kitchen's first full-service dining room. Over the same months it lost the only USPS retail counter inside the 92130 ZIP code. These changes are connected. Since One Paseo opened in 2019, new places have kept opening at a handful of centers, and those centers are where the openings went again this year. The post office was in an older center that had been losing foot traffic, and it closed. The nearest full USPS retail counters are now in Del Mar and up the 56.
The places themselves matter, but the pattern behind them explains more. It tells you where the newest restaurants are likely to open, which center's calendar is fullest this month, and why some postal errands now take a short drive.
Where the 92130 post office went
For about 25 years, Elam's Hallmark at Piazza Carmel ran a post office counter at the back of the store. The family business inherited it when it bought the shop from Party Parade, and the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in July that the counter was the only USPS post office for the 92130 ZIP code. According to that report, the store closed in June after lease talks with the landlord didn't work out.
The Postal Service's own notice, dated June 16, 2026, gives the details. The Carmel Valley Retail Post Office at 3880 Valley Center Dr., Ste 202 closed "due to a loss of lease," and its last day of retail service was Monday, June 15. The notice also says:
"Mail delivery operations in the area are not impacted. The Postal Service is searching for alternate quarters to continue retail service in the area."
As of this writing, no replacement site has been publicly announced. Until one is, the closest options are these:
- Rancho Peñasquitos Post Office, 9245 Twin Trails Dr. Open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sunday.
- Del Mar Post Office, 122 15th St. in the Village.
- PostalAnnex at Piazza Carmel for shipping. It handles packaging and sends through USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL, and it rents private mailboxes. Its listing doesn't describe it as a post office or a contract postal unit.
The Union-Tribune also noted that this is the second loss for the area. The Sorrento Valley post office relocated to Mira Mesa in 2022. Piazza Carmel's online directory still shows the Hallmark store and its post office, so that listing is out of date.
Why Piazza Carmel, and where the foot traffic went
Scott Elam, president of Elam's Hallmark, told the Union-Tribune that the store had struggled for several years. When Souplantation closed after the pandemic, the store lost its regular lunch crowd. He estimated that traffic in the center fell 10 to 15 percent after the Vons became a Pavilions. He also said shoppers had drifted over the years to Del Mar Highlands Town Center, One Paseo and The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch. The former Souplantation space was still vacant when that story ran in July.
The family business, which marks 50 years in San Diego this year, still runs Hallmark stores in Encinitas, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Poway, Tierrasanta and Oceanside.
Those three centers are the same ones that signed nearly every new Carmel Valley tenant this summer.
What the busier centers added since June
Del Mar Highlands Town Center
Del Mar Highlands added the most this summer. The Union-Tribune's July report listed these openings:
- Joe & the Juice opened in June at 3435 Del Mar Heights Road, #9, on the upper level. It serves cold brew, juices, iced matcha and smoothies made with ingredients like Lion's Mane and Irish sea moss. The pressed sandwiches include the Spicy Caesar and the Tunacado. The brand was a founding tenant at One Paseo across the street when that center opened in 2019, so this opening brings it back to the neighborhood.
- L&L Hawaiian Barbecue held a luau-themed grand opening in a space next to Ike's Love and Sandwiches.
- Perspire Sauna Studio and CorePower Yoga joined on the fitness side.
Lobster Lab is now open on the Sky Deck at 12841 El Camino Real, according to the center's listing. It serves lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, plus bisques, melts and salads. The restaurant's site lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The center's dining directory also lists Wanderlust Creamery as open. It was planned for the spot next to the pop-jet fountain.
One space hasn't opened yet. Seabørn Cocktails is taking over the former Boochcraft taproom on the Brewer's Deck, and the center still lists it as "Coming Soon" with no hours posted. A September report from WhatNow described the concept as ready-to-drink margaritas made with agave wine, including a 7% ABV option.
One Paseo
One Paseo's newest openings came on October 1. goop Kitchen opened at 3725 Paseo Place with dine-in seating and pickup, and the center calls it the brand's first full-service dine-in restaurant. A limited-time KREWE pop-up selling sunglasses and optical frames opened the same day.
Together that comes to seven new businesses at Del Mar Highlands and two at One Paseo, with a cocktail bar still on the way. Piazza Carmel lost its gift shop and post office over the same stretch. It still has PostalAnnex, a Pavilions and its own events calendar, and the Halloween guide below includes it.
October across four centers, in date order
Every center has a Halloween event this year, each on a different day. That means a family could go to all four. Events at One Paseo are free unless a price is listed.
- Saturday, Oct. 10, and most weekends this month. Amalfi Pizza & Bar at The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch has live music from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31. All month, Pacific Social is running "Ghosted at the Social," a menu of Halloween cocktails made with Ghost tequila.
- Sunday, Oct. 11. SDMOM Walks Family Yoga runs from 10 a.m. to noon on the One Paseo lawn and costs $30 per family.
- Saturday, Oct. 17. This is the busiest day of the month. Piazza Carmel's Halloween Spooktacular runs from noon to 3 p.m. with a magic show, balloon art, photo spots and trick-or-treating. From 3 to 5 p.m., the singer Kenna performs throughout One Paseo's shops. Then the Hocus Pocus movie night on The Lawn runs from 5 to 8 p.m. It was rescheduled to this date because of weather.
- Saturday, Oct. 24. TJ Moss plays One Paseo's live music hour from 3 to 5 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 25. Halloween in the Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch runs from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 29. Pacific Social hosts a pumpkin carving party with Ghost Tequila from 6 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Trunk or Treat with the San Diego Police Department runs at One Paseo from 3 to 5 p.m. and is free.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. At Del Mar Highlands, trick-or-treating runs from 4 to 6 p.m. Maps are handed out at the Pop Jet Fountain, and character stations are set up at Toy Land, the fountain and the Sky Deck. Earlier that afternoon, David De Alva plays at One Paseo from 3 to 5 p.m.
Looking into November
The calendar gets lighter after Halloween, and most of what's scheduled is at Pacific Highlands Ranch. Pacific Social has a four-course Michael David "Blast Off" wine dinner on Thursday, Nov. 5. The start time hasn't been announced. Taste of Village, hosted by CCAF, runs from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8.
For holiday cards, One Paseo is booking 15-minute mini photo sessions on select dates from Oct. 18 through Dec. 6, at $325 per session. The cards will still need mailing, and for now that means Twin Trails Drive, 15th Street in Del Mar, or PostalAnnex at Piazza Carmel.
Changes like these, from a lost post office counter to a new lobster roll spot, affect how a neighborhood feels to live in, and they shape how buyers see the homes nearby. If you'd like to talk about what this year's changes at the centers mean for your home or your next move, Cynthia Monaco is glad to help. Let's Connect.
