An independent cafe owner has raised concerns about the opening of a new Costa and Greggs at a Nottinghamshire retail park.
The Maltings Retail Park in North Gate Road, Newark, has been under construction since 2020 and is set to open this Spring.
An M&S Foodhall will be at the heart of the site, with the unit covering 18,000sq ft of the estimated 50,000sq ft retail park.
In addition to the food hall, there will also be a Costa and Greggs opening on the retail park, which looks to be near completion.
The Costa has its own unit that is clearly visible from the main road, and the Greggs will share the M&S unit with the foodhall.
Located less than 200m away on the corner of Currie Road is Donna B’s Tasty Bites, which was founded by Donna Broadley 17 years ago.
The business is well established in the area, but Donna says yellow lines painted outside her shop are causing her to “lose business”, which she expects to be furthered by The Maltings.
She said: “Costa and Greggs is another hit on my business, and I feel I won’t be here next year.”
Manager, Lesley Debo, has worked at the business for four years.
She added: “We do coffee and everything here, so Costa is definitely going to affect us.
“Every business is struggling at the minute so it’s only going to make it worse, and then there’s Greggs as well.
“People that travel through and only come in for a coffee and stuff will probably go to Costa now.”
Located in the Warwick Brewery, between The Northgate Retail Park and The Maltings Retail Park, is another independent café, The Coffee Chain.
Husband and wife, Jody and Amanda Bett, founded the café and bike shop combination in 2019, and were only open for a year before the pandemic hit.
Amanda said: “Naturally we are concerned about Costa but luckily we have had the monopoly in this area for a while.
“We just hope the M&S brings more people to the area.”
Jody added: “It draws more people to this area which will make it more vibrant and a great place to be.”
The couple has more than 40 years of hospitality experience between them and is in the process of expanding the café to allow for more customer seating on its lower floor.
They hope this expanded seating area will be ready for customers to use in a few weeks.
Amanda said: “We’re hoping to offset from the chains by being more of an experience, you come here to spend time and enjoy your visit.
“It’s nice to go somewhere where people know your name and what drink you have."
The business has a lot of loyal customers, and when asked if the pair were concerned about losing their regulars, Amanda explained that “half of them didn’t even know there was a Costa opening.”
Other independent food businesses and cafes near to the new Costa and Greggs, includes Mr Chips on North Gate and Kebab Express on Cow Lane.
Greggs and Costa were approached for comment
