Major coffee chain with 2,000 branches suddenly shuts high street store following string of closures
COFFEE KICK Major coffee chain with 2,000 branches suddenly shuts high street store following string of closures
A MAJOR coffee chain with 2,000 branches has suddenly shut a high street store after a string of closures.
The decision to close another town centre branch has been described as a "sign of the times" as businesses face increasing cost pressures.
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Costa Coffee on Whitstable High Street has poured its last cup of coffee
Credit: Getty
Costa Coffee on Whitstable High Street, Kent, closed its doors for the final time on June 29.
Customers will now have to go to the drive-thru cafe beside Chesterfield roundabout instead.
When Costa Coffee first arrived on Whitsable High Street five years ago there was some initial disquiet.
The area is fiercely proud of its reputation for independent stores and cafes.
But it's the latest casualty in a string of nationwide closures by the coffee chain which were first announced last year.
This included the Costa in Maidstone town centre which shut up shop in January 2024.
The Whitstable store had mixed reviews online and only gained an average of three stars on Tripadvisor.
Customers complained about cutbacks to opening hours and describing the cafe as "dingy".
However, the location had 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google reviews with customers praising the coffee and the service.
The location is now being advertised for an annual rent of £35,000.
Costa confirmed the closure of the branch on June 30 but did not reveal why it had shut or how many staff were to be affected.
The boss of Kent's biggest independent coffee shop chain, HatHats, which has a store in Whitstable Harbour, told KentOnline that it's a "sign of the times".
Louis Hurst said: "I think the fact that a name as big as Costa is closing branches shows the increasing cost pressures so many businesses in our sector and beyond are facing.
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"Increases to National Insurance contributions, and in our case the number of staff who now qualify for employers' National Insurance, has seen a huge hike in our employment costs - and that's before we talk about increases in rent, utilities and the goods we buy.'
"The world coffee price for green beans, for example, has also risen by over 90% in a year.'
Costa have closed a number of its stores this year.
In April, the company announced it was pulling down the shutters on its branch in Broxbourne, leaving locals gutted.
In the same month, the Lyme Regis branch also announced its closure after more than a decade serving flat whites, cappuccinos and caramel lattes to locals and tourists alike.
Plenty of other locations throughout the UK have been pouring their last cup of coffee too.
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