Costa Coffee in Hale Barns is set to reopen under new management - just weeks after closing its doors - after being acquired by Altrincham-based franchise business Sim Trava, Altrincham Today understands.
Sim Trava, which operates 80 Costa Coffee stores across the North of England and is the second-largest Costa franchise partner in the UK, is understood to have agreed a deal with the landlord to take over the prominent corner unit at Hale Barns Square.
The site will reopen as a Costa Coffee - customers are unlikely to notice any difference - with a target reopening date in the first week of July.
Rather than a full refurbishment, the company plans a light refresh of the existing fit-out. The café is expected to employ around eight new staff in total, with experienced personnel from within the Sim Trava network taking on management of the store.
The news is a further tonic for Hale Barns following our exclusive story about Waitrose's arrival later this year.
The Square has faced a difficult period following the departure of the anchor tenant Booths in 2024, with the subsequent tenancy of Asda proving to be largely unsuccessful.
Costa was the first retailer to sign for Hale Barns Square when the £30m development opened in 2015, agreeing a lease on a 1,491 sq ft unit with space for 57 customers inside and 24 outside.
It traded for 11 years but then closed, seemingly for the final time, on Friday 15th May.
Founded in 2004 by Simon and Tracy Vardy - whose names give the company its name - Sim Trava opened its first Costa in Northwich in October 2005.
The company has grown to 80 stores across the North of England, from the Wirral and North Wales to Newcastle, employing more than 700 people.
Sim Trava's stores include locations in Wythenshawe, Urmston, Stretford, Cheadle, Northwich, Southport, Blackpool and across Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and the North East. Hale Barns will be its 81st.
A formal statement from Costa is expected shortly.
