Massive espresso store chain with 2,700 shops set to shut department inside days | UK | News | EUROtoday

Costa Coffee has confirmed the closure of its Lyme Regis department in a blow for the Dorset city that follows a sequence of closures throughout the nation. The UK’s largest espresso chain, with over 2,000 cafes, will completely shut its doorways on Thursday, April 24, after greater than a decade within the seaside space. The once-ubiquitous brand that was as soon as an indicator of each British excessive avenue seems to be in retreat throughout a variety of areas, with Costa pulling out of cities and cities together with Edinburgh, Brighton, Birmingham and London final 12 months.

The chain hasn’t commented on an official downsizing coverage, with a spokesperson merely telling The Scottish Sun: “We can confirm that our store in Lyme Regis will be closing its doors for trade on April 24.” But locals have reacted with disappointment to shedding a gathering place that that they had relied on since 2012, when it changed the property brokers Fortnam, Smith and Bennett on Broad Street.

“Such a shame to lose another store,” one particular person wrote on social media. Another added: “The high street is just not what it used to be, so sad.”

“It’s always sad when any business has to close, especially when it affects local jobs and livelihoods,” a 3rd particular person added.

It’s the third Costa department to be axed in latest weeks, with the Shell Highworth Service Station outpost shut on April 20, and the espresso store on Stockton High Street because of shut subsequent month.

But the favored cafe chain can be simply the newest enterprise to depart Lyme Regis, with a Boots department closing final February and seafood restaurant The Oyster and Fish House shutting its doorways in December.

The Beach and Bager cafe on Marine Parade additionally closed in 2024 and now operates beneath new identify The Terrace.

Big-name retailers together with WHSmith and Homebase have been amongst different excessive avenue giants deserting cities throughout the UK over the past 12 months in a rising pattern in direction of on-line purchasing and away from conventional brick-and-mortar websites.

Homebase has additionally been among the many corporations pressured into administration by a difficult financial local weather, with manufacturers pointing to the cost-of-living disaster and rising National Insurance for employers as among the many causes behind the detrimental shift.