A MAJOR coffee chain with 2,000 branches is to shut its town centre store in weeks following a wave of closures.
Costa Coffee is closing its branch on Stockton High Street after 11 years in a blow to locals.
Its last day of trade will be May 31, giving customers just a short time to say their goodbyes.
According to local news reports, the building which houses the cafe has been put up for rent for £1,792 per month.
Costa representatives confirmed to the Northern Echo that the store would soon be no more.
They said: “We can confirm that our franchise-owned and operated Costa Coffee store on 39 High Street, Stockton, will close for trade on May 31.
“All team members will be offered the opportunity to be relocated to local stores.
“The local community can continue to enjoy their favourite Costa coffee at nearby stores.”
The Sun has approached Costa for comment.
There are still a number of Costa Coffee chains across the area, including one 10 minutes away in Teesside Shopping Park.
It will be a blow to locals in the area who are preparing to wave goodbye to a number of stores in the coming months.
WHSmith is also preparing to close a branch in Stockton come May.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Get a free cake on your birthday at Costa ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6341095111112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]NatWest will also close down its bank in the area come June 4, as part of plans to shut 53 of its sites across the UK.
As for Costa, it is not the first time in recent weeks that it has called time on a site.
In January the business closed a branch in Lyndhurst in the New Forest.
Then a month later it confirmed it would shutter its Bridlington, Yorkshire.
It comes after Costa closed the following branches last year
- Packhorse Road, Buckinghamshire
- King Street, Maidstone, Kent
- Chiswick High Road, London
- Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh
- Rottingdean, Brighton and Cove
- Erdington High Street, Birmingham
- Cheltenham (inside House of Fraser)
- Stockton Heath, Warrington
- High Street West, Uppingham
- Fleet Walk, Burnley
- Alexandra retail park, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent
MORE COSTA NEWS
The popular chain recently made a big change at its self-service machines in shops and petrol stations and shoppers will love it.
The UK’s biggest coffee chain has announced it is expanding the range of hot drinks it serves.
Customers will now have the option to make a hot tea at 7,000 of the self pour machines plotted across a range of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op convenience stores as well as other locations.
Costa’s standalone branches have always sold tea, including traditional English breakfast and a range of herbal blends.
But this is the first time its self service model is branching out and offering beverages besides the likes of a Latte, Cappuccino or Americano.
More recently, customers were left fuming after the chain axed the sugary toppings on its frappés.
The small crunchy pieces used to come as standard on certain drinks in the frappé range, such as the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavours.
But the coffee giant has removed them to make production faster for baristas, causing a backlash amongst its sweet-toothed buyers.