FULL OF BEANS
Major coffee chain to open 11 stores inside Sainsbury’s supermarkets after wave of closures
See the full list of locations affected
A MAJOR coffee shop chain has revealed its plans to open branches in 11 Sainsbury's.
The popular chain will open new sites within the supermarkets throughout 2024.
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Costa Coffee will open the stores in the coming weeks and months creating over 100 jobs.
The first location is in Sainsbury's Farlington Superstore in Portsmouth.
The coffee chain opened its doors to shoppers last week on Thursday, February 15.
Nick Ridley, property director at Costa Coffee, said: "We are excited to join forces with Sainsbury's, bringing our much-loved Costa Coffee experiences to shoppers nationwide.
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"We're proud that we will soon be able to make a difference to customers looking to catch up with friends and family over lunch or enjoy a beloved Costa coffee after their weekly shop."
Costa Coffee already has over 1,000 Costa Express machines in Sainsbury's stores and petrol stations and sold ten million cups of coffee through them in 2023 alone.
Richard Crampton, Sainsbury's director of fresh food, said: "We know that customers like the convenience of being able to stop for a drink, snack or sit-down lunch while they're doing their shopping, and we think that Costa Coffee stores will offer a fantastic opportunity to do this within Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
"That's why we're delighted to be building on our existing collaboration with Costa Coffee to roll out this fantastic new option for customers in our stores over the next year and we're looking forward to hearing what they think."
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Ten more Costa Coffee sites are subject to open in the following Sainsbury's supermarkets:
- Bristol Castle Court
- Southport
- West Hove
- Newhaven Harbour
- Basildon East Mayne
- Ladbroke Grove
- Woking, Brookwood
- Herne Bay
- Epsom, Kiln Lane
- Cobham
Costa Coffee was Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971.
The brand is present in 50 countries worldwide, with more than 2,700 coffee shops in the UK and Ireland and 1,300 globally.
In 2011, Costa Coffee purchased the Coffee Nation coffee machine brand, now known as Costa Express.
Today, Costa Express operates in 20 international markets, with over 14,200 coffee machines in the UK and more than 1,600 globally.
However, the high street coffee shop has already shut the doors to dozens of its sites in recent months.
Which Costa shops have closed in 2023/24
Each of the sites that have closed have other Costa Coffee shops nearby. Closures have taken place in the following locations:
- Coliseum retail park in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire - June 3
- Welch Way, Witney - June 5,
- Wigan town centre - June 25
- Five Rise Shopping Centre, Bingley - July 9
- High Street, Worcester - July (relocated September 15)
- Lowestoft's North Quay retail park - July 23 (refurbishment)
- Church Street, Oakham - September 15
- West Bridgford, near Nottingham - September 22
- Commercial Street, Newport, Wales - October
- Church Street in Malvern, near Worcestershire - November 17
- Gatwick Airport South Terminal - November
- Packhorse Road, Buckinghamshire - January 10
- King Street, Maidstone, Kent - January 20
- Chiswick High Road, London - February 6
- Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh - February 14
The coffee chain will close its branch on Erdington High Street on March 3.
Costa says it regularly reviews its store estate across the UK to ensure it's right for its communities and teams.
This can include the closing or renovation of existing stores, or the opening of new stores.
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 on their way.
Sales volumes dipped by 3.2% in December, data from the Office for National Statistics suggests, down from a rise of 1.4% a month before.
Food and drink have also been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches.
Meanwhile Costa isn't the only addition to some Sainsbury's stores.
The grocery giant has launched restaurants within its supermarkets and several locations.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Caffe Carluccio's and Ed's Diner are among the names - but this came at the same time as closing 200 of its own cafes.
The supermarket plans to launch 50 fashion hubs which will have it's own TU clothing range alongside others like Sosandar, Simply Be and Finery.
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They have already opened in nine locations including Dartford, Norwich and Birmingham.
Argos, which is owned by Sainsbury's, has closed high street stores and moved in to supermarket locations nearby instead.
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