West Kirby has always been a hotspot for cafés, however over recent years more and more cafés seem to have popped up left, right and centre.

 

The waiters at Aubergine (open since 2014) have noticed the increase of cafés in the area from when they first opened. While they have many regulars, they’ve observed a decrease in new customers. One of the waiters remarked that although they have a range of different people who come to the café, there are prominently more older customers. Is this because younger people, visitors, and new arrivals are more attracted to the newer cafés? Certainly, West Kirby’s abundance of cafés has caused the probability of new customers entering the shop to dwindle.

 

Costa opened in 2017 and is situated near the town centre. A waiter at Costa when asked about the main age group who come into the shop, they said, “between 20 and 25.” Perhaps this is where all the younger people are going for a coffee? Costa certainly has a trendiness which appeals to younger people and as Costa is a big cooperation, people are more familiar with their products.

 

The Bakehouse (opened in 2021) and Jackie (the manager) when asked about whether it was difficult to establish her café/bakery in the area said, “I didn’t research much into the area before we opened,’ and she hadn’t noticed much difficulty as people like the homemade bakes they produce and the coffee from the local roastery, Adams & Russell. She had observed that there is more footfall nearer to the town centre so that may have influenced the success of her business. The town centre is certainly busier and so more customers go to the cafés there instead of the shops further away. Jackie mentioned how it didn’t concern her much as the number of cafés benefits the community.

 

And she is right. There may be friendly competition between cafés, but West Kirby is extremely lucky to have a wide variety of them and in the end, all of the cafés (some more than others) collectively make the community a better place and gives everyone, from all walks of life, a place to have a morning coffee.