All good things must come to an end. And this ending is bittersweet.

Robitaille’s Fine Candies, a downtown treasure as synonymous with Carpinteria as its safe beaches, is closing Dec. 1.

“I’m heartbroken,” customer Peter Gray told Noozhawk on Thursday as he was stocking up on chocolate for the next couple of weeks.

Gray, a part-time Montecito resident, has been shopping at the chocolate shop for more than 15 years. He said he enjoys the chocolate marshmallows and the licorice.

“It’s so sad,” Gray said of the closure.

The announcement Thursday of the closure of the shop, at 900 Linden Ave., sent ripples through Carpinteria. It’s a throwback candy shop, where they make the chocolate in the back of the store, and customers can enjoy everything from licorice and butterscotch chews to the vanilla and chocolate butter creams.

“We have so many customers who are truly like family,” owner Tami Robitaille said, struggling to fight back tears. “Saying goodbye to them is probably the hardest thing.”

She works at the store every day. She and her husband, John Robitaille, opened the business in Carpinteria 36 years ago. They told Noozhawk they made the decision earlier this year to close the store to spend more time with family, including their grandkids.

Their store is part of local and national history. A sign on the wall of the store tells the story. In 1985, the White House chose Robitaille’s as the official mint of the 50th presidential inauguration. The mints were served at the White House for nearly a decade afterward. At the time, the store was in the Funk Zone, and was a manufacturer of candy products for retailers around the world.

It moved to Carpinteria in 1989, replacing a hardware store. In 2003, the Robitailles built its signature store trademark — the red-and-white checkered floor.

On Thursday, customers melted over the news of the closure. There were hugs, tears and many thank yous from customers.

“It’s been a wonderful time,” John Robitaille said. “Meeting people and their families and everyone we have met over the years has been a wonderful experience.”

They said the business is doing well and that the decision to close was a personal one. They want to spend more time with family and travel.

“We are going to have our sixth grandchild,” John Robitaille said. “We just wanted the freedom to go and help them and do things with them.”

He said he’ll miss the energy of being downtown and the small-town feeling of being connected to everyone.

“Just the life in general,” he said. “Looking out the window and seeing what’s outside. This corner is a really good corner in town.”

He grew up in Carpinteria. He’s seen the change.

“Things come and go,” he said. “A lot of childhood places that I frequented, they left and they are no longer here.”

Their chocolate attracted an audience with locals and travelers from around the world because of the kitchen in the back and the intricately made chocolate by hand.

“We’re really an old-fashioned type of place,” he said. “That’s what makes us different.”

Whether it’s fudge, licorice, toffee or sugar-free chocolate, Robitaille’s has something delicious for everyone.

The big seller, though? The milk and dark chocolate honeycomb is to die for, the kind of product that sells swiftly as soon as it is put on the shelves.

“People lose their mind if we are out of it,” Tami Robitaille said.

No need to lose your mind for now. Robitaille’s will have the treat, and other chocolates, to melt away with until Dec. 1.