Bettys is set to close its shop on Stonegate after opening 50 years ago. Earlier in the year they made the decision to close up upstairs and now after it was reported a few weeks ago they’ve made the difficult decision to close the shop.
‘Little Bettys’ will close but no changes are being made to the five other tearooms, including the flagship tearoom in York, which is just down the road from the Stonegate branch.
Posting to Instagram they wrote: “Earlier this year we made the difficult decision to close the first-floor café at our Little Bettys branch in York while keeping the ground floor shop open. Now, with a heavy heart, we’re announcing that the shop will also be closing its doors soon.”
Going into more detail a blog post on the Bettys website read: “Earlier this year we made the difficult decision to close the first-floor café at our Little Bettys branch in York while keeping the ground floor shop open. Now, with a heavy heart, we’re announcing that the shop will also be closing its doors soon.
When we closed the first-floor café we dearly hoped to find a more sustainable way of repurposing the building and keep the branch running in a new format, but sadly that hasn’t been possible. With Bettys in St Helen’s Square, York, just a short walk away, having a small standalone shop wasn’t operationally or commercially practical.
The team have shown great professionalism and resilience throughout. We know our people are our strength and we’re working together to look for opportunities for our colleagues in other roles within our family business. We’re hugely grateful for their ongoing support and commitment.
Our thanks also go to our customers. Many have visited Little Bettys regularly for years, sometimes decades, and we know that lots of memories are bound up in this beloved place. We hope that you can continue to create new Bettys memories in our other cafés in York, Harrogate, Ilkley and Northallerton.”
Customers shared their sadness at the closure with one person writing: “
So sad, little Betty’s is my favourite of your shops/cafes.”
Another showed their understanding but said: “Such an iconic landmark on Stonegate.”
And another wrote: “Such sad news. Me and my family always chose to queue up those twisty staircases rather than go to the main cafe. Felt like a little secret.”
We will surely miss the little quirky shop/ cafe, but can understand how hard a decision it must have been.
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