New lease of life for old Starbucks cafe in Limerick
New Italian cafe concept opens in Thomas Street centre
A FORMER Starbucks cafe in the heart of Limerick has re-opened a year on from its closure.
Eighteen new part-time jobs have been created, after Shanagolden businesswoman Sinead Roche opened a branch of Irish coffee chain Brevato in the Thomas Street centre, neighbouring her existing Mace store.
"We wanted to bring a bit of life and a bit of fun back to the city centre,” she said.
Ms Roche has signed a 12-year lease on the building in a complex which also houses ride-hailing firm Uber’s European headquarters.
And she has also renewed at her existing Mace store.
"We have had huge interest in this opening. it’s such a nice story – something opening, rather than closing. That’s where we should be at. Limerick is such a beautiful city and we should be very proud of it. We are Limerick women, we are a Limerick family, we have hospitality in our blood so this is very important to us,” she told Business Leader.
It’s only Brevato’s second fully-fledged store in Ireland, the other being at Custom House Quay in Dublin.
Ms Roche says it’s only the first time a food menu has been introduced in the coffee shop.
"The menu is very different. Our research was Limerick people wanted a different type of sandwich with their coffee. It’s designed and crafted for people here in Limerick. It’s an Italian bread concept. It’s schiacciata, and not available in Limerick before. We are using hand-crafted ingredients from O'Connell’s Butchers. We have a local baker, the 061 Bakery from Kilcornan, and they are going to be baked here on site,” she added.
Pronounced ‘skee-ah-chah-tah’, schiacciata is a crisp Tuscan bread, with an airy centre.
Among the ingredients for these sandwiches will be many Italian stapes, for example pastrami melt, roast Calabrian chicken and roasted aubergine.
Ms Roche’s family have served the county since 1984.
Her mum and dad’s original store in Shanagolden is still open to this day, and there is another outlet in Kildimo.
Their Mace outlet at the Catherine Street/Thomas Street centre is designed as something of a “food emporium” as she has described it in the past, with lots of different cuisines on offer.
The efforts of the staff at the store have been recognised with two awards at the Shelf Life awards, which are widely considered to be the Oscars of the Irish retail industry.
On top of this, Catherine Markham won the title of delicatessen food manager of the year, something Ms Roche and her colleagues are very proud of.