Costa Coffee announces plans for thousands of stores to reopen
18 June 2020, 00:25
Thousands of Costa Coffee shops will be opening their doors by the end of June, as a survey found Britons are missing cafes more than pubs.
The retailer announced 1,100 of its 2,700 branches will reopen for takeaway and delivery customers within the next two weeks, after nearly three months of closure.
Some 45% of consumers said they miss visiting coffee shops while - compared with 44% who said they miss pubs, according to a lockdown survey by Market Measures.
Some 27% of the 3,700 respondents said Costa is the chain they miss visiting most, with 14% preferring Starbucks, 12% Greggs, and 10% Cafe Nero.
One quarter voted for McDonald's, while KFC and Nando's each received 15% of the vote.
Customers visiting the reopened Costas will be greeted with hand sanitiser stations, perspex screens at counters, and two-metre floor signs reminding them to social distance.
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Baristas will only accept contactless car payments.
Drive-through lanes will also open and customers will pick up their orders through serving hatches to limit contact.
McDonald's and Starbucks started reopening British stores in May, and sausage roll supplier Greggs is reopening around 800 stores for takeaway customers on Thursday.
Jill McDonald, chief executive of Costa Coffee, said she is "delighted" the outlets will reopen at the end of June.
She added that Costa Coffee has delivered more than 861,000 cans of coffee to key workers across the country since the start of lockdown.
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