After two decades of providing puzzles, party games, and a place for connection on lower State Street, Game Seeker will soon close its doors. Owner Ingrid Estrella confirmed that her lease was not renewed, and a visit to the ground-floor tenants of the Hotel Santa Barbara found that others expected to be moving, too.
The facade of the hotel property is currently draped in black netting as the windows are replaced in an ongoing renovation by new owner Hendricks Commercial Properties of Beloit, Wisconsin. Hendricks purchased the parcel in December 2021 under the LLC name 527 State Street. First to depart was Stabiles Boutique, which loaded up the contents of its 527 State Street store at the end of January 2024 and trucked it to 100 East Yanonali Street in the Funk Zone.
Game Seeker’s Estrella said she understood last November that her lease would not be renewed, and she had remained on a month-to-month basis until she received a 60-day notice to vacate by the end of April. “We knew this might happen — we’ve seen it before,” Estrella said. “But we were hoping we’d have more time. It just came a little sooner than we expected.”
Despite being prepared, she said the financial impact of relocating on short notice has still been significant. She and her husband own and run the store at 537 State Street, which has been a fixture for families and game-lovers since 2004. Estrella took over as owner in 2020, after starting there as a young employee. “It was fate,” she said in a 2020 interview. “This place had a hold on me.”
A representative of the Hendricks group in Wisconsin said they planned to renovate the Game Seeker space. As real estate agents showed the property, some tenants learned that a swanky new bar or restaurant might replace the storefronts on the ground-floor space. The hotel’s customary entrance is boarded up in favor of a temporary lobby at Stabiles Boutique’s previous location. Through interior windows, a steel staircase can be seen zig-zagging upward into the hotel.
Under the black netting and scaffolding on State Street, longer leases may protect some tenants for a while. A representative for Starbucks, which sells coffee on the corner at Cota Street, said they had no plans to relocate.
The storefront for Marcel Hemp vibrated from the grinding going on behind its connecting wall with the hotel. The owner, Marcel Monsivais, was not there, but his employees believed they were planning to move, too. Nearby, Charles Fazzino’s 3D Studio Gallery at 529 State Street received a 60-day notice in March. Gallery director Carol Ritz said Fazzino’s colorful three-dimensional art had brightened the space for 23 years and that they were now looking for a new space on State Street before the end of May.
“We were up on the 900 block 29 years ago,” Ritz recalled, adding that a storefront on State Street was essential, “especially down at this end” where the tourists were plentiful. The pedestrian-only promenade had definitely hurt sales. “At least bring back the tram,” she suggested. “People would see the gallery from their cars or the tram and want to stop and come in.”
Both Ritz and Estrella credited the previous property owner for valuing local business; he’d looked for “forever tenants,” said another. Estrella said the recent shift was part of a broader trend. “[The property] is owned by a corporation now. They have different plans — and they didn’t include us.”
She was quick to emphasize that this isn’t just a story about real estate — it’s a story about relationships, memories, and local value. “What about 20 years of business?” Estrella asked. “What about what we offer — a place to come and buy board games so that you can sit with your family and play and connect, especially in this digital world?”
Though Game Seeker is closing its storefront, Estrella says this isn’t the end. The team is actively searching for a new location and exploring pop-ups and online sales to stay afloat in the meantime. She’s urging customers to support them in the final days by shopping their inventory sale and staying connected through Instagram and their website.
“We really want the next space to be one where we can sit down and play,” Estrella said. “That’s how you can support us — by showing up to play.”
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had the numbers for Hendricks’s LLC, 527 State Street, and Game Seeker’s address, 537 State Street, mixed up.
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