A building in Liverpool city centre has been demolished after 17 years to make way for an American coffee chain. The Paradise Street kiosk, which housed Krispy Kreme for nearly 15 years, was removed as part of plans to create a larger premises for Blank Street Coffee's first Liverpool outlet.
Details of the Demolition and Replacement
A planning application submitted to Liverpool City Council by Landsec, owner of Liverpool ONE, proposed dismantling the existing kiosk and replacing it with a new unit on broadly the same site. The new kiosk will be carefully realigned to accommodate on-site constraints and public realm features, including street trees, irrigation zones, and lamp posts.
The original kiosk was approved in December 2009 as a temporary fixture, limited to a five-year period. Consent was renewed in 2013 and 2018 to retain the unit, which included an integrated ATM and external seating areas. Krispy Kreme opened in April 2011, with customers queuing overnight with sleeping bags to be first in line.
The replacement unit will be a curved kiosk with a significantly larger floorspace, expanding from 22.8 square metres to 66.5 square metres. Demolition has been completed, and renovation works are underway in the surrounding areas.
Blank Street Coffee's Expansion
Blank Street Coffee, an American chain known for its mint green visual identity and viral matcha offerings, started as a coffee cart in a Brooklyn diner garden in 2020. The company expanded across the Atlantic, opening its first UK site in London in 2022. It now has several locations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, with further openings planned in Bristol and Cambridge.
The Liverpool site would be the chain's first in the city. An opening date has yet to be confirmed. According to the planning document, the new kiosk is intended to become an established unit that better utilises its key location on Paradise Street.
