The café has already gone – and the shop could be next.
Bettys has revealed it is considering shutting up its Stonegate shop.
YorkMix reported in March that the café known as Little Bettys was going. At that time managing director of Bettys Simon Eyles said: “The shop at Bettys Stonegate is staying open.”
Now, however, the company has had a change of heart. Staff are being consulted on the permanent closure of the venue.
A Bettys spokesperson said: “We’re talking to our team at ‘Little Bettys’ on Stonegate in York, about a proposal to permanently close the shop and branch.
“It’s important to emphasise that this is a proposal at the moment, and no decision has yet been taken.
“Little Bettys, as it’s often known by customers, has long been the most operationally and commercially challenging of our branches.
“Earlier this year we took the decision to permanently close the upstairs café, but kept the small downstairs shop open with a plan to look at different options and formats for the building.
“Sadly, to date, we’ve been unable to find a workable option, so we’ve made the team aware of a proposal to close the entire branch.”
Working with the team
Previously this branch of Bettys looked to be set to expand. It also owns the next-door building on Stonegate, and in 2017 had given the occupier – The House Of Trembling Madness – notice to quit.
But that never transpired.
Bettys on Stonegate opened more than 50 years ago. The spokesperson said: “Bettys is 100-years old, and our history has shown us that we need to adapt and evolve to continue to thrive.
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“No changes are being proposed to any other of our five Bettys Café Tea Rooms, one of which, our flagship York branch, is located only a few hundred yards away.
“We’re working closely with the team at the branch and, if the proposal to close goes ahead, we’d aim to redeploy as many people as possible into other parts of our family business.”