Clementine's, Casitas Cleaners, and the Carpinteria Fixtures That Changed Hands Instead

In the last week of September, Lloyd McLenithan was taking reservations for Clementine's final weekend from a yellow legal notepad covered in handwritten notes. He told Noozhawk he wished he could fit in everyone who wanted a table before closing day. The community's response surprised him, he told Coastal View News, and the last weekend was "almost overbooked."

Loyal customers didn't save the restaurant, and they weren't going to. Across Carpinteria this year, each longtime business ended up on one side of the same line. The ones whose operators didn't control their space closed. A business kept going when someone was ready to buy it or the building it sat in.

Fifty Years on a Property the Family Didn't Own

Clementine's opened at 4631 Carpinteria Ave. in 1976. Irene McLenithan took it over on April 30, 1982, her 52nd birthday, and her son Lloyd became head chef. The kitchen made everything in-house. Meats were cut there, soups and salad dressings were made there, and the pies are what most people mention first.

The ending came down to ownership. McLenithan told Coastal View News that the building and property had sold. His family had always known that day would come, because they never owned the property. According to Noozhawk, the new owners gave the restaurant two more years to operate. McLenithan said he held no animosity toward them and was grateful for the time, and he didn't know what would happen to the building after he closed.

Clementine's served its last meal on Sunday, Oct. 4. At a Monday meeting after the closing, the Carpinteria City Council presented McLenithan with a proclamation for 50 years in business. "We're not going to go anywhere, but as a business, we have to stop," he told the council, as Coastal View News reported.

Nobody has publicly named the buyer, a sale price, or plans for the building at 4631 Carpinteria Ave. For now, the big blue building on the avenue is a question mark.

Casitas Cleaners Gives Back the Clothes Through Friday

Sunny and Jun Han's shop in Casitas Plaza has the same problem with different paperwork. Casitas Cleaners has been in the plaza since 1985, and the Hans have run it since Sunny bought it in 1989. In Coastal View News, they listed three reasons for closing: an expiring lease, rising operating costs, and the cost of keeping old dry-cleaning equipment running. They also said retirement was calling.

Sunny gave Noozhawk the math in more detail. The equipment would have to be replaced entirely, and paying for it would mean raising prices. They had already raised prices once, after their rent went up. A small business can absorb one of those costs. It can't easily absorb a new lease and a new machine room in the same year.

The Hans first set Aug. 31 as their last day. They stopped taking new orders, though, and kept the doors open so customers could collect what was already there. If you've ever left something there, here's what to know before this Friday:

• Last day: Friday, Oct. 30, at the shop Noozhawk lists as 5402 Carpinteria Ave. in Casitas Plaza.
• Old tickets count: The Hans track orders on a computer and can look up any customer, even for clothes dropped off years ago.
• What happens after: Anything still unclaimed after the last day will be donated.

The pile is large. "We have so many clothes that customers have never picked up over the years," Sunny told Coastal View News. "We have never thrown anything away."

Three Doors Down the Same Avenues, the Handoffs Worked

Over the same months, three other longtime Carpinteria businesses changed owners and kept their doors open. In every case, someone was ready to buy the business, the building, or both.

Carp Sports & More! sits in Casitas Plaza, the same center as the cleaners. Brothers Mario and Mauro Valdivia told Coastal View News they knew the sporting goods store had been for sale "for quite some time." Once they could afford it, they applied, and the purchase came together after what Mauro called "a six-month rollercoaster ride." They added more inventory and an exclamation point to the name. "We are still Carp Sports," Mario said. So within one shopping center, one longtime business found a buyer and another reached the end of its lease.

Chocolats du CaliBressan had already survived a lot before this year. Jean-Michel and Jill Marie Carré opened in late 2007, during a recession, and nearly closed. A strong Christmas in December 2008 kept them going. They opened a Santa Barbara shop in 2011 and closed it in December 2020, but the Carpinteria store stayed open. When the Carrés decided to retire, Herb and Jennifer Weigel and their daughter Sarah bought the business. Jean-Michel agreed to a long transition period teaching the family his methods, and an apprentice he trained stayed on staff, Coastal View News reported. Sarah now runs the shop, chocolate-making included.

Rincon Designs is the closest match to Clementine's. Both were decades-old family businesses at the end of a run. The surf shop at 659 Linden Ave. closed in March 2025 after about 45 years and sat empty for nearly a year. It reopened because Ryan Moore's father-in-law bought the building. "My father-in-law ultimately purchased the building and allowed us to reopen," Ryan told Coastal View News. Founder Matt Moore went back to shaping surfboards full time, and Ryan and Ashley run the store.

Clementine's had a following that filled its final weekend and a City Council proclamation. What it lacked was a successor who controlled the property.

Why Rent Weighs So Heavily in a Town of 15,000

Local business owners described this pressure in February, months before either closure. Coastal View News asked them about the storefront turnover around downtown, and Lorraine McIntyre, a member of the city's Downtown "T" Business Advisory Board, said that "the prices of rents are not sustainable for small businesses to succeed in the long-term without attracting money from outside the community."

Ryan Moore explained why that matters so much here. Carpinteria has about 15,000 residents, and when he and Ashley plan their businesses, they cut that number in half to estimate how many locals might shop or eat in town on a given day, according to the same Coastal View News piece. He also pointed to a squeeze from both sides, with thinner margins for businesses and less spending money for residents. The Moores run Lucky Llama, Sunburst Wine Bar and Heritage Goods and Supply, which they own with partners, in addition to Rincon Designs.

With so few customers to go around, a rent increase is hard to pass on, and the Hans had already raised prices once to cover theirs. That's why it matters who owns the building, or who is willing to buy a business that has been for sale for a while. The handoffs that worked this year all involved a buyer who was there at the right time: two brothers who had wanted a shop of their own for years, a family willing to learn tempering from a master chocolatier, and a relative who bought a building on Linden Avenue.

Two Addresses With No Announced Next Tenant

As of this week, no new use has been announced for 4631 Carpinteria Ave., and no replacement has been named for the cleaners' space in Casitas Plaza. McLenithan has said his family is staying in Carpinteria. The Hans have said their retirement plans amount to relaxing. The newer owners have made their own promises. The Weigels told Coastal View News they "will not sacrifice quality as we grow," and they planned to start adding new French-inspired chocolates at Easter.

The next thing on the calendar is Friday, the last day to collect a forgotten coat from Casitas Cleaners before it's donated.

Carpinteria is where my husband and I started over in 1998, so I notice when a name like Clementine's goes dark on the avenue. If you're wondering what this year's changes along Carpinteria Avenue and Casitas Pass Road mean for your own corner of town, I'm always glad to talk it through. Live In Santa Barbara is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.