Another Santa Monica institution has gone dark.
Marmalade Cafe — a fixture in the city since 1990 — quietly shuttered its location at 525 Santa Monica Blvd. last week, leaving the 3000 square foot storefront stripped bare.
No goodbye note. No “thanks for your patronage.”
The closure comes just 27 months after the brand abandoned its original Montana Ave. home, where it thrived for three decades amid high-end boutiques, jewelry shops and trendy restaurants.
The move to Santa Monica Boulevard, by contrast, placed it across the street from a Goodwill thrift shop and the Santa Monica Public Library — a known gathering spot for the homeless.
While the closing caught staff and longtime customers off guard, it was actually being choreographed for some time. Commercial real estate listings show the owners had spent the past year quietly shopping for someone to take over their nearly $18K per month lease.
The Santa Monica closure is part of a larger, multi-unit restructuring for the privately owned chain which once boasted eight locations across L.A. County:
- Original Farmers Market (3rd & Fairfax): Closed roughly three months ago without public fanfare.
- The Commons at Calabasas: Served its final meals yesterday, ending a 28-year run at the Rick Caruso-owned shopping center.
Staff in Calabasas were blindsided just days before the shutdown, according to one employee who blamed exorbitant rent — reportedly $65K per month — and parking nightmares tied to ongoing construction.
“It’s not easy,” a manager named Michael told The Sun. “It’s unfortunately a sign of the times.”
Requests for comment to owners and top management were not immediately returned. But over the weekend, the company did post a lengthy note to customers in Calabasas. “While this chapter is coming to an end, the Marmalade Cafe family is not,” it read. “We would be honored to continue serving you at any of our other locations in Westlake Village, Malibu, Sherman Oaks and El Segundo.”
Born more than three decades ago as a grab-and-go bakery and cafe, Marmalade grew into a full-service chain under founders Selwyn Yosslowitz, Robert Burns Jr. and Bonnie Burns. They sold the business in 2007 and later opened Bedford & Burns in Beverly Hills.
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