Latest news with #caféClosure
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Café where Jacinda Ardern took Stephen Colbert in New Zealand collapses - as calls grow for ex-prime minister to return for Covid inquiry
The café where Dame Jacinda Ardern took The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, when he visited her while she was serving as prime minister, has closed its doors. The Auckland business, KIND, cited economic headwinds that had failed to improve in the years following Covid lockdowns. Its closure coincides with pressure on 44-year-old Ardern, who has moved to the United States, to return to her home country and provide evidence at an inquiry into her government's Covid response. The café owners issued a statement about it's closure to social media on Monday. 'We are closing the doors for good tonight... Economic conditions, spiraling costs, excessive rent are all factors in our decision to close. We have been going backwards for too long, hoping things will change but they haven't, they aren't,' it read. 'KIND was founded as a social enterprise to make the neighbourhood of Morningside a greener and healthier place to live. We have been part of this awesome neighborhood for seven years and still love it. Thank you to all our neighbours and customers who have supported us through the good times, the covid times and the hard times. We wish we could have kept going, but it was not to be. In a world where you can be many things, be kind.' Ardern took Colbert to the café when he visited in October 2019 after she had invited the Lord of the Rings fan to visit when she appeared as a guest on The Late Show a year earlier. A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response in New Zealand has held public hearings this week. A first stage of the inquiry was held in 2023 and this second stage will look at vaccines and lockdown decisions made by the government in 2021 and 2022. Ardern has lived in Boston since late 2023 and there have been calls for her to return to give evidence at the inquiry, which she has indicated through a spokesperson she is prepared to consider. The mother-of-one, who is the joint-youngest women to give birth while a sitting world leader, was a popular prime minister for most of her time in office but her approval rating plummeted before she resigned in January 2023. Since leaving office, she has made few incursions back into public life, but has expanded on her time in office in her memoir, A Different Kind of Power, released in June by Penguin Random House subsidiary Crown. She re-entered the political fray in May with a rallying call for internationalism, rebuking the inward outlook of the US under President Donald Trump. She spoke at Yale College's Class Day, the undergraduate arm of the prestigious Ivy League university ands opted against 'the usual pep talk that perhaps you might expect' in an address witnessed by thousands. 'The world,' she said, 'Over the course of a few short months, moved from tumultuous to an all-out dumpster fire.' 'There's the war in the Middle East and Europe, with both leaving questions over our sense of humanity. 'The daily reminder of climate change that bangs on our door but falls on deaf ears at the highest echelons of power. 'Challenges to rules around trade, increases in migration flows, and a decreasing regard for civil rights and human rights, including the right to be who you are.' Ardern said the world stood at an 'inflection point in global politics', fuelled by post-pandemic economic challenges, when politicians needed to care for the most vulnerable. 'Some of the greatest leaders here in the United States have recognised that amongst all of the challenges politicians face, they must meet the most basic needs of their citizens, first and foremost,' she said. 'FDR (former president Franklin D Roosevelt) said in 1944 while still governing a country at war, ''true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made''.' Ardern supported unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, appearing at party events. In a thinly veiled attack on Trump's America First economic doctrine, she said isolationism was an 'illusion'. 'You cannot remain untouched by the impacts of infectious disease. A trade stand-off can never just hurt your competitors,' she said. 'A warming planet does not produce extreme weather that respects borders, and far-flung wars may not take the lives of your citizens but it will take away their sense of security and humanity. 'We are connected. We always have been,' she said.
The Sun
01-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Major supermarket announces permanent closure of popular cafe at store after over 20 years in city
A MAJOR super market is set to permanently close a popular café in one of its city centre locations. The café, housed in a city centre store, is to close as part of a transformation project. 2 Marks & Spencer in Douglas, the Isle of Man, is set to transform the site from top to bottom. Part of the planned changes is the closure of the in store café which has been serving the community for more than 20 years. The café was a favourite among locals who regularly popped in for a bite during their shopping trips. M&S have said they will be transferring all staff to other departments with no job losses expected. The café will be replaced by a larger in store bakery, two hot coffee machines and a hot chicken counter. The site was already refurbished in just eight years ago in 2017. Works on the new facelift are expected to begin towards the end of July. As part of the revamp the existing food hall will expand by 50% using the space created by the now closed café. There are also plans to expand the stores clothing and home departments. The store is expected to remain open during the works as the supermarket aims to minimise disruption. Revamp work is due to be finished in Spring 2026 with the launch of the refurbished store expected shortly after. 2 A Waterstones location on the same street closed its own café last month. During the M&S revamp in 2017 the supermarket increased the size of its on site café. A massive 600 square feet was reportedly added to the café during the works, increasing seating by a whopping 140. The massive M&S store on Market Street was established in 1996 and has been serving locals ever since. The closure of the café has come as a blow to locals who have been eating there for decades. M&S reportedly aims to offer a fresh shopping experience to customers. The closure of the café and associated revamp works are aimed at modernising the location. What is happening to the hospitality industry? By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter MANY Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out. Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation. Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches. Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs. Pizza giant, Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores soon. Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans
