Metropulos Is Closing After 20 Years

Funk Zone institution Metropulos Fine Food Merchant will close this Saturday. Owners Ann and Craig Addis have decided to retire after an effort to sell the business didn’t lead anywhere. It will leave a gaping hole in the neighborhood, particularly for residents and workers who have relied on it for two decades. Imagine how different the area must have felt back in 2004…. The commercial condo, meanwhile, is still for sale at a price of $2.35 million. UPDATE 12/29: The Addises posted this letter online. I don’t know when it went up, but I was told that the restaurant component will end tomorrow (Saturday).

Dear incredible wonderful customers, and everyone else lurking out there:

No beating around the bush here, we’re writing to let you know that we have made the decision to retire from the food business, and to close Metropulos. Probably, you have already heard some version of this news.

Here is the real story.

We have been trying to sell the business and/or the building for some time now, but to date have had no offers. (although we are hopeful that we will receive an offer soon…and from a really great team of operators)

For the past year or so, our homeowners association (we are located in a commercial condominium) has been demanding that we allow them to tent our building for termites, as we are attached to the residential units.

We have been trying to postpone the tenting until we have sold our building, as it means we’ll have to empty the building of all foods, packaging, dry goods, etc, and start over. Unfortunately, the HOA has imposed a deadline, forcing us to consider all options.

After 20 years and into our 60’s, starting over isn’t an option for us, so we’ve made the decision to close while we decide what’s next for the space.If the offer we are expecting does not materialize, we will locate a great operator, and we will lease out the space until the commercial real estate market improves. Or who knows, perhaps we’ll reopen under some alternate iteration!

As can be expected, many of our employees have started their journeys to new, long term jobs and have been slowly leaving us for their new ventures. A HUGE shoutout to the remaining employees and all the great employees we have had the pleasure of working with over the years. If you thought opening a food business was hard, you should try closing one! This team is incredible.

Here’s what’s next:

We will continue to sell sandwiches and salads through this week, or until we run out of ingredients. Whichever comes first. As we runout of ingredients, though, some things will need to be substituted on our salads and sandwiches.

We will continue to sell breakfast burritos, gyros and deli salads through the weekend, or until we run out of ingredients. Pot pies in the freezer until sold out.

Beginning in the new year, we will liquidate our remaining inventory of foods, wines, cheese and charcuterie, and overstock packaging, becoming a retail shop until our shelves are empty. This will be a liquidation sale with most items reduced in price; all sales final and cash is appreciated.

Hours in the new year will be 11-3 Monday-Friday.

We appreciate your business over the years. You have been an integral part of our growth and success, and have enriched our lives in ways you cannot know. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to be a part of the Santa Barbara food community, to have earned your trust and respect, and won your love.

The outpouring of kind words has been overwhelming; we are proud to have created this successful business, from scratch, in the time before Funk Zone was a thing, before YELP and before SB had a local Whole Foods, multiple Trader’s Joes, and Bristol Farms.

We brought our vision to fruition, and did what many said was impossible.

On another note…if anyone needs an excellent executive level employee, be sure to send us an email. After a little down time, one of us will be looking for something part time, new and exciting to keep us busy, while the other one becomes a gentleperson farmer. Yes, chickens and goats are in our future.

We also have a couple outstanding members of our team who we would love to assist into their new roles. Please let us know if this is something you’d like more information about.

Onward and upward, ya’ll stay safe out there.

Queue the sunset, and two marauders riding into it.

Our time in the food business is coming to an….

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