Coffee giant eyes drive-thru for town centre Pizza Hut site

American coffee chain, Starbucks, has submitted plans to see the Pizza Hut unit on Great Portwood Street in Stockport town centre converted into a new drive-thru outlet for the brand.

The plans follow the opening of a drive-thru restaurant at the Peel Centre by Starbucks’ Canadian rival, Tim Hortons, which opened its doors earlier this year. German Doner Kebab also recently opened their first outlet in the borough next door to the property being considered by the Seattle-based coffee chain.

The Pizza Hut building at Garfield Court was sold by STOK developers, Glenbrook, in April 2020 to a private investor.

Proposals for the Garfield Court site would see the existing Pizza Hut building largely demolished and replaced with a Starbucks drive-thru store, which would also see the removal of six parking spaces on the plot to accommodate. Existing vehicles access from Great Portwood Street would be maintained. The new coffee shop will have an total floor space of just over 2500 sq ft.

Starbucks expect that around 50% of business will come from drive-thru customers, in line with other similar stores operated, and hope to take advantage of passing traffic thanks to proximity to the M60 motorway and without leading to an increase in vehicle numbers in the area. The store also hopes to benefit from the custom of shoppers at the Peel Centre retail park, while also being within walking distance of Stockport town centre, where the US coffee giant only has an offering on Platforms and 1 and 2 of the train station.

If approved, plans could create around 20 new hospitality sector jobs in the town centre, in addition to work created through the development of the store.

Glasgow-based Opfer Logan Architects prepared plans for the site for Starbucks UK; Montagu Evans LLP are planning agents on the proposals.