Caffè Nero to open flagship sites at Stansted and Belfast airports
Coffee house brand Caffè Nero has announced it is opening a new flagship in Stansted Airport to kick-off its post-Covid new store openings programme in the UK, with another to follow in Belfast Airport.
The Stansted Airport store, which was won via tender and replaces a Starbucks, will be located in the International Departure Lounge. It is due to open in June after an investment of more than £750,000.
Concurrently, Caffè Nero will build and open a flagship store in Belfast City Airport. This opening, also expected in June, will replace a Costa and will be the largest coffee outlet in the airport. Located in the main concourse for arrivals landside at the airport, the store will be Caffè Nero's first store in an airport in Northern Ireland.
Both stores will be part of a post-Covid renewed store openings programme by Caffè Nero. A further six stores will be opened across the UK by early summer, in urban centres and market town locations, with additional sites being lined up for further openings later in the year.
Group chief executive Gerry Ford said: "We're thankful and delighted to have the opportunity to serve customers in both these airports. I hope and trust that our new airport stores will excite passengers and visitors alike. Both airports are predicting passenger numbers will exceed pre-pandemic numbers in the coming years, so these are important sites for us to win.
"As the UK emerges from pandemic restrictions, we are looking to return to growth by resuming our store openings programme. We have several new stores in the pipeline scheduled to open over the coming weeks and I'm excited by all of them. Customers are talking with their feet and we are already seeing customer numbers increase week by week. We will be looking at other new sites moving forward as there seem to be a lot of very good opportunities out there."
The Nero Group operates more than 1,000 stores across 10 countries, with 620 and 5,500 employees across the UK.
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