A MAJOR coffee chain shop is today shutting its “delightful haven” doors in another high street closure.
The bean grinders will come to a halt in one of the chain’s town centre stores that even played host to cops’ community engagement sessions.
Costa Coffee is today bidding farewell to Uppingham, where it was described as a “coffee enthusiast” refuge.
Having closed several stores in recent times, the chain earlier this month confirmed to The Sun that its Uppingham days were over.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “We can confirm that our Costa Coffee store on High Street West, Uppingham, will be closing its doors for trade in May.
“All team members will be re-deployed to other stores. Customers will be able to continue to enjoy their favourite Costa Coffee at our nearest store in Lands End Way, Oakham.”
To find your nearest store or Costa Express machine, you can visit the chain’s website.
The closure will come as a blow for some customers, who left raving reviews about the comfort their local Costa offered.
One local wrote: “Costa Coffee in Uppingham is a delightful haven for coffee enthusiasts like me.
“The warm and inviting atmosphere, coupled with consistently excellent coffee, ensures a top-notch experience.
“The staff are incredibly friendly and attentive, making each visit a pleasure.”
Also leaving a glowing Google review, Bronwyn Southam said: “It’s one of the most comfortable places I can go for coffee.
“The staff are so welcoming and I’d recommend anyone to go.”
The store’s standing in the community was sufficient enough that Leicestershire cops held regular neighbourhood engagements there, with one as recently as March.
Another organisation choosing the Costa as its host was The Chatty Café Scheme, a non-profit encouraging conversation among strangers to alleviate loneliness.
It did, however, divide opinion when it opened in 2018.
Becky Wanda said: “That’s awful. It’s a rural town full of history and they plank a Costa in the middle – shameful.”
Lee Serri Collins said: “Think of the poor, hard-working independent coffee shops that strive and put all there (sic) effort into making there (sic) businesses work, it’s wrong to just slap that in town.”
And he made a perhaps prescient prediction: “I truly hope it fails.
“Personally think the sheep of Uppingham will do as they always have and be all excited for a few weeks about the newest thing in town before the novelty wears off and they get bored of it.”
But some were supportive.
Jannet Wignall said it was: “A comfy place to sit and chat with space.”
Trevor said on X: “Last time I visited Uppingham there didn’t appear to be a coffee shortage. Still, better to be safe than sorry.”
It’s the latest high street shop to go down amid the post-pandemic decline.
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.
Costa hasn’t been immune to this, with a trio of shop closures coming in the lead up to Uppingham’s ending.
A Chiswick High Rd store called time on February 6, while Edinburgh’s Bruntsfield Place offering kicked the bucket days later.
A Birmingham store drew the curtains on the cappuccinos on March 3.
However, Costa insists it constantly looks at ways to expand its 2,700-strong coffee shop contingent.
The spokesperson said: “As the Nation’s Favourite Coffee Shop, with over 2,700 Costa Coffee stores across the UK&I we regularly review our store estate.
“We invest heavily in opening new stores, relocating stores and investing in store designs to ensure they are right for the customers and communities they serve.
“Our significant store investment programmes have a positive impact on local economies and communities, creating additional job opportunities whilst enhancing the coffee shop experience for customers.”
Each of the sites which have closed have further Costas nearby, which you can find using the locator tool on the chain’s website.
