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Coffee shop reopens after closing as regeneration stalled
Pictured at the New Pollards Coffe shop 627 Ecclesall Road , opening on Thursday 6th july pictured are Owner Simon Bower & Manager Rachel Pearson
ONE of Sheffield’s oldest institutions is opening a new store today - just months after appearing to close its doors for the last time.
Pollards Tea and Coffee, launched in 1879, closed its Charles Street cafe in March, as its owner complained of intolerable delays to the regeneration of the city centre.
Managing director Simon Bower, whose great-great-grandfather Joseph Pollard founded the company 132 years ago, said he could no longer operate surrounded by empty stores due to the postponement of the Sevenstone new retail quarter.
Now Pollards is to get a new lease of life, in a scaled-down modern shop in Hunters Bar.
Mr Bower has gone into partnership with Rachel Pearson, who worked at his city centre cafe for 26 years, to open the new store on Ecclesall Road.
The new shop, much smaller than the Charles Street venue, which employed 18 staff, will not have a cafe but will offer drinks to take away.
Mr Bower said: “This is a great venture for us. When we closed the Charles Street store we were inundated with ideas about alternative schemes.
“Rachel was out of a job and when this opportunity came up we issued her some shares in the business and went into partnership to open it together. Rachel and I will be running it with just two other staff.
“We will be focusing on the retail side, although we have a takeaway provision so we will offer coffee to be made in one of three different ways.
“This area has a great feel and there are a lot of local links to the business.
“My grandmother used to work in this very building, when it was a bakery in the 1970s, so it feels really good to be moving in here.
“And the equipment from the original Pollards Glossop Road store is a few yards down the road at the Heritage Museum.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 5 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
llrrh
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 09:51 AMVery good news indeed. I wish Rachel the best of luck, it was always a pleasure talking to her in the old shop .I have a suggestion, the Pollards website really should publicise the new shop, can't see anything on the web site at the moment.
jesspuss
Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 10:49 PMreally pleased,rachel will make a go of this new venture i am sure will be up to buy my coffee and tea as soon as possible
wadsley
Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 10:28 PMGood luck, well deserved!
Zap
Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 03:25 PMit is indeed - moved out of the rundown city centre to the better heeled ecclesall road area - good luck to him
seenitall
Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 12:51 PMExcellent news!
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