Starbucks has just announced further store openings as it continues to grow its UK franchising operation.
A new Starbucks Coffee store will be opening in Middlewich by the end of March, creating around fifteen new jobs in the process. It will see the former site of the Little Chef restaurant on Holmes Chapel Road transformed into a sparkling new outlet of the global coffee brand.
The lease has been taken on by EuroGarages, the petrol forecourt business, through a license deal with Starbucks. Martin Davis, the location manager for Christie & Company, who are working with EuroGarages on the project, noted that roadside outlet sites were clearly showing great potential for the Starbucks business and a key route to their expansion plans. With road traffic ever increasing, brands which can position themselves next to busy traffic locations and provide the right mix of high-quality and fast-access refreshment products have a captive market to engage with. Mr Davis also commented on how well located the former sites for Little Chef were and pointed to the high levels of interest in the premises.
The motorway stores and drive-thru success already experienced at the site by EuroGarages bodes extremely well for Starbucks and local residents have already expressed their enthusiasm for the store's opening. Starbucks have also expressed positivity about the deal, saying that they feel 'proud' of the new partnership with EuroGarages, which will bring great coffee as well as local employment opportunities to communities such as Middlewich and other locations in the UK.
In fact, the partnership with EuroGarages is already a success and together with Starbucks the operator has taken on five additional leases from former Little Chef restaurant sites, with a view to converting them under licence to Starbucks franchised coffee shops.
This latest bulk acquisition is happening in the Hampshire town of Liphook and again makes use of a high-footfall former Little Chef restaurant. The new Starbucks stores have opened in Wirral, Hailsham, Workop, Wrexham and Wansford and they form part of the company's ambitious plans to convert as many as thirty former Little Chef restaurants into Starbucks coffee houses, under a franchise licence arrangement.
Alongside the EuroGarages developments, Christie & Co, the Manchester property advisors, have also managed to let another five former Little Chef restaurants to a range of independent businesses and another Starbucks franchisee.
Starbucks has announced that its move into UK franchising forms a core part of the company's objective to achieve profitability in the UK. Further coffee stores are anticipated in other high-footfall locations, bringing further employment opportunities to local communities. It's another great story for franchising and another interesting opportunity for potential investors.
