An American coffee giant is set to open a new cafe a bustling retail park in Reading.
Starbucks is set to take over the closed Costa Coffee cafe at the Brunel Retail Park in Whitley, which has seen a renaissance recovery in recent years.
The news has been revealed in a planning application for advertising which shows the maroon Costa Coffee branding with the Starbucks trademark mythical siren coloured in white and green.
Costa Coffee at the retail park has been closed for months. Although the precise closure date is unknown, the cafe was still open in August last year, according to a review on TripAdvisor.
You can view the advertising application for Starbucks to take it over by typing reference 240850 into the council’s planning portal.
It comes after the Starbucks at The Oracle Riverside closed in April.
The coffee giant retains a kiosk in the upper mall of The Oracle, a large cafe at the Butter Market in the town centre and a drive-thru at Reading Link Retail Park.
Starbucks has also appealed to the government to approve its plan for a drive-thru at Shepherds Hill in Woodley.
Brunel Retail Park itself has seen a remarkable recovery in recent years following a low ebb in 2022, with Go Outdoors closing in February of that year and five of the other units being boarded up.
But it has seen a renaissance following the relocation of B&M into an enlarged store last August and the opening of Home Bargains that September.
The Range is due to relocate from the Reading Station Shopping Park to Brunel Retail Park this September.
