Isla Vista Food Coop to Permanently Close Santa Barbara Downtown Market Store

The Isla Vista Food Coop (IVFC) will close its Santa Barbara Downtown Market store later this month due to ongoing financial struggles, the grocery store announced on December 14, 2025. 

Two years after it opened on State Street, the Board of Directors decided to permanently close the community-owned store on December 26, 2025, according to an Instagram post. 

The Downtown Market opened with the goal of expanding the community, and the store had hoped to reconnect with longtime owners who lived or worked closer to Santa Barbara, it mentioned in the post. 

IVFC also aimed to welcome new neighbors “into a shared vision of healthy food access, local impact, and cooperative values,” according to the post. 

However, while the store successfully built meaningful relationships and established the concept of a community-owned grocery store, it failed to achieve its targeted financial goals, it said. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by IV Food Coop Downtown Market (@ivfcdowntownmarket)

“Expenses remain high, sales remain too low, and continuing to operate a second location would put the long-term stability of the cooperative at risk,” the store said. 

As a result, the board has decided to refocus its energy and resources on its Isla Vista location, which it described as its home, roots, and “the heart” of its mission. 

The board has made “meaningful progress strengthening this store” and has a “clear plan to continue addressing operational and financial challenges,” according to the post. 

The State Street store at 1533 State Street will revert to the Cantwell’s Market & Deli, continuing what the store described as a long tradition of a neighborhood market. 

“All ownerships will remain active and we look forward to continuing to serve our owners at the Isla Vista location,” the post added. 

Expressing gratitude to customers who supported the Downtown Market in the past two years, the board looked forward to welcoming patrons at their Isla Vista location.

Isla Vista Food Coop

Founded in 1974, IVFC was established following the environmental activism that stemmed from the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, according to its website. The food coop started as a “buying club,” with neighbors contributing resources to access ethically sourced, healthy food. 

IVFC has been raising funds, with the aim to raise $240,000 by the end of this year to “stabilize operations, rebuild reserves, and secure long-term sustainability,” according to its fundraising page. 

The store raised $120,000 in August 2025, it mentioned in an Instagram post earlier this year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by IV Food Coop Downtown Market (@ivfcdowntownmarket)

“While our new downtown Santa Barbara location is profitable and growing, it is not yet able to offset the losses in Isla Vista,” IVFC mentioned in the fundraising campaign on October 20, 2025. 

For over 50 years, the store has served UCSB students, residents of Isla Vista, and the broader Santa Barbara community, it said. If the Santa Barbara store closes due to lack of funds, residents will lose the “last community-owned grocery store in Santa Barbara County,” the store noted at the time.