A MAJOR coffee chain with 2,000 branches is pulling down the shutters on an “exceptional” store in days.
It comes after it permanently closed a string of locations in a blow for latte lovers.
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Costa Coffee is set to welcome in customers to its branch in Stockton Heath, Warrington, for the final time on Thursday (April 11 ).
Shoppers and locals’ next nearest branch is in the Golden Square Shopping Centre in Warrington.
A spokesperson for Costa previously told The Sun staff from the branch will be re-deployed to its other stores “where possible”.
Customers, who have come to know the store on Google Reviews for its “exceptionally kind” staff, have been left gutted it is closing down.
Read more in Store Closures
One, posting on Facebook, said: “I’m gutted I love that Costa and the staff are all lovely.”
Another said: “Crying shame, the lack of coffee shops in Stockton Heath is a real worry!”
“What (a) shame was always busy when I went in,” a third added.
It comes after Costa closed a number of other branches in recent months in a blow for coffee fans.
The chain, which currently runs more than 2,000 sites across the UK, closed its location in Chiswick, Hounslow, on February 6.
Costa Coffee on Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield Place served its last latte on February 14 too.
And it closed its branch in Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham, on March 3.
But it’s not all bad news for the coffee chain as it recently announced plans to open a string of branches as well.
In February, it said it will open 11 Costa sites in Sainsbury’s supermarkets across the year.
Sainsbury’s locations in Bristol, London and Surrey will all be serving up lattes and cappuccinos in the coming months.
The move builds on the coffee chain’s ongoing partnership with the supermarket giant with more than 1,000 Costa Express machines in its stores and petrol stations.
Which other coffee chains are closing branches?
Starbucks also closed a branch in Murton, County Durham, last month in a blow for locals.
The international coffee chain also closed its location in Botanic Avenue, Belfast, at the end of last year.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend,” Prof Bamfield said.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included UK Flooring Direct, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
Last year, around 14% of insolvencies were in retail businesses, according to official figures.
And its Trowbridge branch, in Wiltshire, shuttered permanently in July, according to local news reports.
Caffe Nero has also been closing branches since last year, including in Glasgow, Cheltenham and Cheshire.
However, Starbucks has also been opening stores as well.
Last March, it announced it would be opening a whopping 100 new stores across the UK before the end of the year.
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