4 days ago
Byres Road cafe owners fear soul of street lost to coffee chains
It comes as the Blank Street Coffee chain opened up on the popular shopping street – despite planning permission being refused.
Blank Street joins the likes of Pret-A-Manger, Black Sheep Coffee and Starbucks, which are all sandwiched between small businesses.
The four big corporate chains are located in the most accessible part of Byres Road – closest to Hillhead Subway station.
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At newly established Level 11 Coffee Hub and Café Swiss, which has been open for nearly a decade, senior staff are worried.
Yasmin, the Café Swiss manager, was taken aback by the sight of coffee chain cups on Byres Road.
'I'm quite surprised how many people I've seen with it,' Yasmin said. She spoke of the team's relationships with regular customers and added: 'I think that's actually what's kept us going for so long.
'You're never going to get that kind of connection with someone in a big chain.'
Meanwhile, Café Swiss barista Noah shared that during a break he had counted 23 chain labelled cups outside in a 10-minute period.
Yousef, the co-owner of Level 11, went on: 'I am part of that community that actually go and support small businesses.
'We get a lot of our customers that come here just for that reason.
'The first time, we show them who we are and what we offer, and the effort we put into our product.
'I know my support and another person's support, is actually going to support the business.'
Yousef expressed concern over how some chains have removed the social element of a coffee shop, introducing screens to take orders rather than members of staff.
'They've got the screens, there's basically no socialising,' he said. 'The best part of being here is socialising.'
