General Merchants won’t return to revamped Forestside
Independent coffee shop General Merchants will not reopen its outlet at Belfast’s Forestside Shopping Centre when development at the site is complete.
The existing General Merchants has closed and is being dismantled as the centre’s front and car park is revamped by new owners, Michael and Lesley Herbert of Lesley Forestside.
General Merchants has branches in Stranmillis, east Belfast, Ormeau Road and Antrim Road, as well as operating a kiosk in the city centre.
The coffee shop had operated from the space for six years, after starting as a temporary addition, and was the only homegrown coffee business in the centre.
Owner Tim Fethersto, said he had been offered the option of opening a unit inside the shopping mall but blamed spiraling costs for not doing so.
“We started taking it down a couple of days ago, and it will then into storage, and we won’t be staying on in Forestside.
“Even though the other cafes are very busy, we still find it hard to make a profit after all our suppliers and staff get paid.
“The rent level would be ok for the larger businesses in there, like Marks and Spencer and Jamaica Blue, but not for a small business like us.”
He said staff were being redeployed in other parts of the business.
Michael and Lesley Herbert acquired Forestside, whose anchor tenants include Marks & Spencer, Dunnes and Sainsbury’s, last year and the centre is currently being redeveloped to house a number of new food outlets.
