Cantwell’s Makes a Comeback in Downtown Santa Barbara 

At the corner of Arrellaga and State streets, an iconic market has returned. 

A flyer on the store’s sliding glass doors lists its holiday hours, but with the new addition of a sharpie-scribed declaration: “CANTWELL’S IS BACK.”

The farm-fresh storefront signs for Cantwell’s Market & Deli have also resumed their former posts at 1533 State Street. Gone are the sunny logos of the previous operator, the Isla Vista Food Co-op, which bought the keys from Cantwell’s owner Pradeep Shastri in 2024. 

With the purchase, the Co-op took over the old market — a community staple since 1981 — including the business and inventory, with a multi-year lease from Shastri at that location (the building was still owned by the Shastri family). 

Shastri sold the store to take on other projects, and the Co-op came on scene with a vision. 

During the Co-op’s tenure at what it renamed the “Downtown Market,” it transformed the convenience store into a modest grocery store. It fixed broken equipment, revamped the Cantwell’s deli, hired more staff, built a produce department, and brought in more than 3,000 products to the shelves. But that tenure ended on December 26, when it decided to terminate its lease agreement. 

Lisa Oglesby, the Co-op’s board director, said they tried to make their business model work at that location, but it was not worth the expense. Back in May, the Co-op launched a fundraising campaign to cover a $50,000 shortfall and survive post-pandemic declining sales across both their locations, including their mother market in Isla Vista. But it was not enough. 

“Even though we were ultimately not financially successful in that location, we had a lot of other successes,” she said, noting an increase in customers at the downtown market after the Co-op took over. “We got a lot of visibility for that space and for the Co-op, and we connected with a huge amount of community members, and that was all great. 

“In the end, we just couldn’t cover all the bills.”

Cantwell’s Market & Deli opened with Shastri at the head once again starting on December 27. 

As of now, stock is still slim. Refrigerators and shelves sit largely empty. But drinks, produce, snacks, and other items are slowly flowing in, and the deli counter is open for made-to-order sandwiches, burritos, and other eats.

Some more additions will be coming to the original menu, Shastri told the Independent. It’ll have more of a sit-down-coffee-shop-style flair, he added, “like a community convenience store with a breakfast and lunch setting,” eventually incorporating dinner down the line. 

A chef by trade who has worked in Europe and considers Indian cuisine part of his DNA, Shastri is looking forward to incorporating new additions into the menu and catering for neighborhood offices and small get-togethers. “We need the community’s support,” he said. 

It’ll be “Cantwell’s but better,” according to employees. There’s only a few staff members as of now — Shastri said he offered jobs to many of the existing workers, but “for personal reasons the majority of them decided not to continue their employment” — but the market will be hiring as it starts “picking up some more business.”

“We cannot compete with, like, Costco or Trader Joe’s,” Shastri said, “but are more like a small neighborhood market with a café vibe.”

Meanwhile, the Co-op’s Isla Vista location is hanging in there, but looking for extra support. 

“We are hoping to expand and grow our community,” Oglesby said. “We’re hoping to increase staff capacity by really focusing on our flagship store, and the things that we know we can do really well.”