A small convenience store that has served a crucial role as the sole retail hub for thousands of residents in Morgan Hill’s eastern hills is set to close next month after the property’s landlord declined to renew the tenant’s lease.
Charlie King, who opened Hilltop Market on Jackson Oaks Drive in June 2014, said he received a 30-day notice to vacate from landlord Prem Gupta with no warning and no violation of lease terms cited.
“He’s decided to not renew my lease and gave me a 30-day notice to vacate, which was really unexpected,” King said. “I didn’t do anything to violate my lease.”
King must be out by April 13.
The closure stands to affect an estimated 3,500 residents in the surrounding hillside communities, including Holiday Lake Estates and Morning Sun Terrace, who rely on the market for everyday essentials, local specialty foods and a sense of community. The nearest alternative requires a long, winding drive down into town.
King, a former real estate agent, opened the market after identifying what he saw as an unmet need among residents of the hilltop neighborhoods. What began in 2014 as a modest shop stocked with coffee and donuts grew into a curated market offering “fiercely local” merchandise including craft beers, local wines, Gizdich Ranch pies, Freedom Meat Locker sausages and meats, Treat Ice Cream and a full coffee and espresso bar, among other products.
An employee who asked not to be identified by name said the store had become a beloved fixture in the community. “Customers and everybody are so friendly. They’ll give you a tip when you don’t even expect a tip, even the little kids,” they said. “There is so much love that we’re here, because we’re convenient.”
King said he had invested everything in the business, living in an RV to keep overhead low and working around the clock to build it into a viable enterprise.
“I live in my RV, so I don’t have any huge expenses, but I do that on purpose in order to keep this thing afloat and to keep it there for the community,” he said. “It was working. I got it to a point where I have an excellent staff, and a point where it is cashflow-positive. That store should have been there for 100 years.”
King said he had attempted to sell the business on multiple occasions over the years, but that each prospective sale fell through. He attributed the failed deals to Gupta’s interference.
“I’ve had four people who have tried to buy it, but every time I found a buyer, he would kill the deal,” King said.
Gupta disputed that characterization, saying that prospective buyers had consistently failed to meet the lease requirements he sets for long-term tenants.
“They want a long-term lease, five/ten-year lease. If you sign a five/ten year lease with somebody, then (you have to) make sure the person will qualify for that,” Gupta said. “I don’t want to sign a long-term lease with somebody, and then after one year they will default on rent, and then end up in court.”
Gupta also claimed that King’s tenancy had prevented him from leasing the two other vacant units on the property, citing more than a decade of bad blood and petty grievances that led to the landlord ultimately deciding to terminate King’s lease.
“He has done a lot of nuisance things. Not one, not two things, dozens of nuisance things,” Gupta said. “He is the reason the units are empty. I cannot survive just renting Unit A to Charlie… there are property taxes, it is a huge mortgage payment, and as long as Charlie is there, I cannot rent Unit B and Unit C because he is a troublemaker.”
Community leaders say the closure would be felt far beyond the loss of a convenient shopping stop. Sean Mulligan, a board member of the Holiday Lake Estates Maintenance Association, one of three homeowners associations whose members use the market, said the store serves a social function that nothing else in the area provides.
“It’s the only community space for Holiday Lakes Estates and Morning Sun Terrace. We don’t have any amenities, we don’t have clubhouses or anything, so this kind of functions as a social space as well,” Mulligan said. “It’s a huge loss.”
As news of the store’s coming closure has spread, local residents and customers have begun expressing support online for Charlie and his store, with hundreds of users taking to NextDoor to voice their appreciation for his decades of service to the community. Many have floated ideas for how to save the beloved business.
Mulligan said one potential long-term solution would be for the three associations to purchase the property from Gupta and convert it into a community-owned market, though he acknowledged significant hurdles remain, including whether Gupta would be willing to sell and whether member votes would support amending the associations’ governing documents to allow for the purchase.
Gupta said he has not yet decided what he will do with the property after Hilltop Market’s closure, but acknowledged that it leaves an important niche empty in the community.
“As far as the community is concerned, I will definitely open some businesses there that will help the community (and be) convenient for the community,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
King said he has not given up hope of finding a way to stay, but acknowledged the situation looks bleak. In spite of his consistently hostile relationship with his landlord, King kept his focus on what mattered most to him: building a business that served the community he loved. But now, losing his retail space without having the opportunity to sell his business leaves King unable to recoup his investment.
“I don’t want to leave. It’s not my intention to close the store. I’d love to stay, I love the people up there, I love the community, and I loved doing what I was doing,” he said. “I’ve put my heart and soul into this place.”
The landlord did not deal in good faith. I’ve known Charlie a long time and trouble maker is not a word I would use to describe him. Far from it.
My guess is Mr. Gupta has plans for the place and he needs Charlie out. Funny thing is, that place was empty for several years before Charlie came in. Very sad.
We love Hilltop Market! It’s a wonderful community store with friendly, caring, and helpful staff.
I’ve seen kids on bikes counting their change to buy snacks for an adventure, and the cashiers and customers helping cover the few quarters they are short.
During Covid, they stocked important essentials and helped keep a sense of community during a tough time. Neighbors helping neighbors.
It’s that kind of place. Thank you Charlie for building something wonderful!
When is the good bye rally att he hill top mkt. Sat or Sunday at 12:00 noon
Charlie is a stand up guy far from a trouble maker…..have known him many years……this landlord Im sure has other issues and people try to blame others for their lack of professionalism…..hurting your community like this based on emotion way to go landlord….horrible…..wish some type of deal can be worked out this market was the best
Prem Gupta is a snake! Look him up. He owns several properties in the area, sued VTA over land he owns in San Martin, sued Costco in 2024, etc. Nasty con man trying to shutter a thriving local business!
Prem is notorious for his inhumane behavior…I sold the home next door to his house and he gave my sellers and me a tremdous amount of grief…Lets just buy the building and get Gupta the hell out of our neighborhood…I’m in…Ralph
Ralph, do you know how to value commercial property based on the income approach? From what I am hearing, a fair price would be somewhere between $1.5 million and $2.0 million.
Yes. It’s a good idea to buy the property for a community-owned market. Let take the fair price of $2.0 million and divided by 3,500 residents. Each will contribute about $572. The annual profits from the property will offset the association fee for each household.
Hi Jenny, I do not know of any way to assemble $2 million by allocating among residents. It could be done through the HOAs as the HOAs are existing corporations (Jackson Oaks Association, Holiday Estates Maintenance Association, etc.). There would need to be votes to amend the governing documents (CC&Rs, bylaws and articles of incorporation) and financial will (to impose a special assessment to coverage mortgage payment or a stream of monthly payments to the owner). This all assumes Prem Gupta is willing to sell and the association members are willing to vote to make the changes. It may be possible to involve in the private investors as well. This is not my area of expertise but I am aware of what other associations have done.
Charlie really went the extra mile for our Hilltop community. He will be missed.
I don’t think Mr Gupta understands that the communities’ loyalty is to Charlie and Charlie’s business, and not to the property location. Given how the landlord has treated Charlie, my family will boycott any future business in that location and I know many others that will do the same. Hopefully potential tenants understand that before they invest in a new venture there. It’s clear that Charlie wants to stay, so if Mr Gupta is an intelligent businessman, then he will comprehend this risk & avoid a long term vacancy by negotiating a new lease with Charlie.
If the property has been such a hassle for mr Gupta, then he should be all in with selling it. Especially with a qualified buyer in place.
Even better, to have Charlie run it and continue to manage and buy products for it. Charlie and I are different in our politics, but he’s got great taste and is a good person.
His niche and buying local for the store is top shelf. I hope our HOAs get this done and Gupta is out once and for all. Call the HOAs Mr Gupta, and you won’t be burdened with property you can’t seem to rent . There’s a good chance any new business will be boycotted and Gupta will have a larger problem.