A MASSIVE family-favourite dessert chain with 100 locations across the UK has abruptly shut one of its major restaurants – the second it’s suddenly closed this year.
The restaurant, which first opened across the country with great fanfare more than 10 years ago, has shuttered another branch in a major city centre.
Kaspa’s, which styles itself as the “King of Desserts”, has closed its branch in Liverpool.
A bailiff’s notice was reportedly pinned to the front of the restaurant stating the locks have been changed.
The first Kaspa’s restaurant opened in the UK in Croydon in 2012.
Since then, the company has opened more than 100 restaurants in the UK with a mission to “spread happiness, one delicious bite at a time”.
In 2016, it launched in Liverpool with a high-profile social media campaign.
One post on Twitter, now X, stated: “Update!! Our #Liverpool branch is now open! Come on down for a taste of what’s on offer!”
Kaspa’s, which is famous for its sweet treats, closed up shop in Crosshall Street in the city centre on October 6, reported the Liverpool Echo.
There has been no explanation for the closure except for a notice on the Kaspa’s Liverpool website, which states the restaurant is now “temporarily closed”.
‘Sad news’
Locals have been reacting to the news on Facebook.
One said: “Novelty over. Sad but it happens.”
Another wrote: “No more sundaes on a Sunday. Or any other day.”
This is the latest closure of a Kaspa’s restaurant in the UK.
Earlier this year, the chain was slapped with a penalty notice by Basildon council, which chased the owner for payment for three years.
Kaspa’s desserts, recognisable for its neon purple decor and sweet treats, is a well-known high-street name.
Located on the ground floor of the Vue cinema complex in the middle of Basildon town centre, residents were shocked to see the staple store scrapped.
At the time of the closure, council leader Gavin Callaghan shared the surprising news on social media, stating the store had been in arrears on their rent since 2022.
A notice placed in the desert shop window stated the council had taken back control of the lease following the rent scandal.
Kaspa’s was reportedly very popular in the area, which left locals baffled about them not being able to cough up rent.
The Sun has approached Kaspa’s for comment.
Why are shops and restaurants closing?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
