Two Sainsbury's cafes in the North East have avoided closure as the supermarket prepares to shut 200 of its cafes in stores across the UK.
Around 2,000 members of staff will be affected by the cafe closures, which come as Sainsbury's announced new plans to "transform" its eat-in, takeaway and home delivery food and drink offer in 250 of its supermarkets over the next three years.
However, 67 Sainsbury’s cafes will stay open across the UK, including those in Durham and Darlington, while Sainsbury’s reviews rollout plans.
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The supermarket chain has also confirmed it plans to close seven cafes in the region:
Bishop Auckland
Sedgefield
Silksworth Lane, Sunderland
Riverside Road, Sunderland
The Galleries Washington Centre
Gateshead
Middlesbrough
Sainsbury's says that staff affected by the closures will be prioritised for vacant roles in stores and will be encouraged to explore alternative roles within the wider business.
Sainsbury’s has also announced plans to close "less popular" hot food counters in 34 stores and simplify the way it runs its bakeries in 54 stores.
Affected staff will enter into consultation, with the aim of redeploying them to other areas of their store where possible.
The closures come as Sainsbury's announces plans to work with Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) to open 30 new 'The Restaurant Hubs' in the next year, which offers customers hot food and drink from brands including Caffè Carluccio’s and Gourmet Burger Kitchen.
And if The Restaurant Hubs continue to be popular with customers it will speed up their rollout in the coming years.
At the same time, Sainsbury’s will also open 30 new Starbucks coffee shops in its supermarkets in the next twelve months, bringing the total number of Starbucks in Sainsbury’s supermarkets to 60.
Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We know that customers like the convenience of being able to have a drink, a snack or a meal while they’re doing their shopping – and that they love the range of food and brands on offer at The Restaurant Hub and from Starbucks.
"Whether customers are shopping for food, for Tu clothing, Habitat homewares or at Argos, the offer at The Restaurant Hub means they can also have breakfast, lunch or dinner in the store – or take a hot meal home with them.
"Through our trials with Boparan Restaurant Group and Starbucks we have learned that we can offer customers a much better eat-in and takeaway experience working with partners.
"We are totally focused on improving what we can deliver for our customers and at the same time, working hard to make our business simpler.
"We are really excited about this new customer offer we will be rolling out over the next two to three years across many of our stores.
“As we go through this period of transition, we have taken the difficult decision to close 200 of our cafes next month.
"We have spoken to all colleagues affected by these changes today and are absolutely committed to supporting them in any way we can during this uncertain time.
"Of course, we understand this is very unsettling for our colleagues, but we must keep adapting our business to make sure we are offering customers the best possible food and drink at affordable prices.”
