Major coffee chain with 1,100 stores to shut branch as customers sob ‘sad to see such an amazing place closing down’
A MAJOR coffee chain with over 1,100 branches is shutting one of its shops in a matter of hours.
Starbucks is pulling down the shutters of one of its stores in Witney.
The coffee shop is located in Market Square, Woolgate Shopping Centre.
It will close on August 16, much to the disappointment of local shoppers.
Posting on Facebook one said: “It’s sad to see such an amazing place in Witney closing down!
“Much better than the one in Sainsbury’s.”
They also shared a photo of a closing down sign in the window of the site.
It read: “This store will be closing permanently on 16/08/24.
“Thank you to all of those who have shared a drink with us.”
The post quickly gained more than 190 comments from coffee lovers in the area.
One said: “Another nail in the Witney coffin.
“This, Denton’s, game, the pet shop not to mention the joke of a place next to Marks and Spencer’s.
“Block the main road off, cut the foot traffic and watch the place go to ruin. I’ve never known Witney look so grey and lifeless.”
Another commented: “Bummer, Starbucks did blue light, Costa doesn’t.”
A third wrote: “I’ve been using Starbucks for 10 years along with my mates, we’ve seen staff come and go, the staff that work there are brilliant, it’s a shame the place is shutting and they are losing their jobs.”
A fourth posted: “The one in Sainsbury’s will be next hardly anyone in there.”
A fifth said: “That’s very disappointing xx”
While a sixth commented: “Agreed! Staff always so lovely and welcoming! Sad to see it and them going.”
“I am gutted about that,” another wrote.
A Starbucks spokesperson said: “We regularly review our portfolio to ensure our stores are relevant for our customers and we can confirm the Woolgate Centre Starbucks store, Witney, will be closing August 16, and all partners at this store are being relocated to other Starbucks stores nearby.”
It’s not the first Starbucks store to close in recent months.
In April, Starbucks announced the closure of one of its Reading cafes, leaving some shoppers “shocked”.
Back in March, locals were saddened to hear their Dalton Park store, in Murton, Country Durham, would be closing down in hours.
One said: “Wish all the lovely staff good luck. They were always very friendly and made the best coffee around.
“Much better than Costa. Will miss it, was a lovely treat at Dalton Park. No other decent coffee places there now.”
Elsewhere, Starbucks pulled down the shutters on its coffee house in Botanic Avenue, Belfast back in November 2023.
Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that chains shut sites for many different reasons.
This might be that the lease is expiring, rents have increased, low footfall or that the area is being redeveloped. It doesn’t mean that the company is in trouble.
Despite the closures, Starbucks lovers will be delighted to know the popular retailer has revealed it is opening the doors for more branches soon.
It announced the opening of 100 new stores across the UK earlier this year – which will include a mixture of company-operated and franchised stores.
The brand is splashing over £30million to open new cafes in the next few months.
The coffee giant already has 1,066 UK branches – 318 of which are company-owned and 748 are run by licensees.
You can find your nearest Starbucks branch using the store locator on its website.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
What is happening in the hospitality industry?
Food and drink chains in general have been suffering as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out.
Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.
Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing branches.
Other coffee chains such as Costa and Caffe Nero have closed branches over the past few months.
Most recently, Revolution Bars Group has revealed to The Sun it will shutter 11 locations on August 11 as part of a major overhaul.
It added a further undisclosed site will close, or has already closed.
The chain currently operates 38 Revolution-branded sites across the UK.
Bars will welcome in guests for the final time in Blackpool, Chester and Norwich next month.
Plus, Premier Inn owner Whitbread is set to axe 1,500 jobs and close over 200 restaurants and pubs in the coming months.
Whitbread plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants across the UK in favour of building more hotel rooms.
Elsewhere, some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs.
Pizza giant, Papa Johns announced plans in recent months to shut down 43 of its stores.
Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shutter the sites as part of major restructuring plans.
The brand also announced plans to close 20 loss-making restaurants after a “challenging” start to the year.
Britain’s biggest pub company, Stonegate, has raised fears about its survival as it races to plug its debts.
Stonegate owns 4,432 sites across the UK under the Slug & Lettuce, Be at One, Sports Bar & Grill brands and 350 traditional style pubs under its “Proper Pubs” banner.
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