There have been a number of new cafes and restaurants open in Swansea of late, but there are two which have long been promised and there's still no sign of either. Back in January, 2021, popular Canadian coffee shop chain Tim Hortons submitted plans to Swansea Council to open its first venue in the city, whilst last March Greggs promised to open Wales' first drive-thru Greggs bakery in Swansea in the July.
But 18 months after Tim Hortons' plans were revealed and a full year since Greggs' announcement - neither is here. It's understood that construction work at Tim Hortons, which was set to open in Nantyffin Road Retail Park in Llansamlet and was expected to create up to 40 jobs, hasn't even started yet.
The Canadian firm launched in Hamilton, Ontario, back in 1964 and started opening stores in the UK in 2017. In just five years it's opened more than 50 stores, with half a dozen set to open later this year. But not, it seems, the planned Swansea store. In Wales, the chain has a store in Queens Arcade in Cardiff and in Broughton Shopping Park in Broughton. It used to have another outlet in Cardiff, located in Working Street in The Hayes, but that was closed in June, 2018, six months after it opened.
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Tim Hortons said it had no information to share on the new drive-thru meant to be being built in Swansea and previously commented that it also had no details to share on its restaurant set to be coming to Trostre Park in Llanelli either. It has declined to issue information on why its drive-thru restaurant hasn't been constructed yet. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Back in February, Greggs confirmed that work on the drive-thru had had to be temporarily postponed. "We still plan to open the Swansea drive-thru location but had to postpone it for the time being. We will be sure to share any information in due course," a spokesperson said at the time. Sadly, for fans of the sausage roll, Greggs has now confirmed its drive-thru in Swansea has been postponed until 2023.
A new statement issued on July 5, 2022, said: "Unfortunately, the Greggs drive-thru in Swansea has been postponed until next year. We’ll share any further information around the opening in due course." You can read more stories about Swansea here.
Newport ultimately beat Swansea to the punch by opening the first Greggs drive-thru in Wales in January, 2022 - you can recap what we thought when it opened in a previous article here.
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