Santa Barbara Independent on Instagram: "The Cookie Plug, a hip-hop-themed cookie shop on State Street, has been told to vacate its downtown storefront by the end of April after the City of Santa Barbara declined to move forward with a lease extension, leaving owner Annette Rodriguez frustrated, financially strained, and searching for a new home for her business.
“I was never told that if Metropolitan left, I would be in jeopardy,” said Rodriguez, who believed she had secured a six-year lease through her original agreement with the Metropolitan Theatres Corporation (MTC), the city’s former master tenant at 918 State Street. “The city approved my tenancy. They reviewed my business concept. They signed off after six weeks of paperwork. Why would I have invested over $100,000 in this place if I thought I’d be kicked out in a year?”
Rodriguez opened the Santa Barbara franchise of Cookie Plug in February 2024 after signing a sublease with MTC the year prior. But that lease became void when MTC, which had filed for bankruptcy in 2023, declined to exercise its five-year extension option on its master lease with the city, which expired on September 30, 2024.
The space, she says, was not up to code when she moved in — the heating and air-conditioning system was broken, plumbing backed up, and signage and access points needed upgrading. “I made their building compliant,” she said. “And now they’re pushing me out with no compensation.”
Rodriguez and her team have identified a new location in Isla Vista and plan to reopen there as soon as possible. In the meantime, she’s posted a GoFundMe link on the business’s Instagram page, asking supporters for help as she begins the process of relocating. “It’s sad,” she said, “but we’re hopeful.”
For more information and access to Rodriguez's GoFundMe, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com. | Photography: Ella Heydenfeldt
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