The Droitwich branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the A38 near Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.
Address and Onsite Facilities[]
ADDRESS: A38, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, WR9 0BJ
ONSITE FACILITIES: Starbucks, Travelodge (Book Room)
History[]
Located just off Junction 5 of the M5 motorway, the Little Chef at Droitwich first opened in 1985/86, as part of Forte's plan to increase their representation of the brand on the A38, which at the time was deprived of existing Little Chefs on its northern section. Given the increasing demand for service stations across Britain's road network, due to the rise in car ownership, Forte established that as well as restaurants proving to be popular with travellers, hotels also had huge potential on the roadside as well. As a result, they established the Little Chef Lodge chain in 1976, which saw the opening of one hotel at Gretna Green. However, the concept was later revived in 1985 and a handful of new hotels opened up alongside several Little Chef restaurants up and down the country, including Droitwich. This meant that hotel guests were in easy reach of a Little Chef restaurant, which served breakfast in the morning and evening meals until late. By 1989, all Little Chef Lodge hotels were converted into Travelodges; however, the two companies still worked closely together.
In 1997, Granada took over the Little Chef brand from Forte and were eager to increase the presence of their Burger King franchise by opening up numerous outlets alongside Little Chef restaurants. In the early 2000s, Droitwich was one of many sites to receive a Burger King; however, this closed a few years later and became an extended seating area for Little Chef customers.
The Little Chef finally closed its doors by August 2012, as part of then owners, RCapital's, restructuring of the Little Chef chain, where at least 67 restaurant closures were inevitable, including Droitwich. It soon became an Indian restaurant known as Vaishali however this later closed in early 2017. In Spring 2017, the building was purchased by Euro Garages who turned the building into a Starbucks store. The Starbucks store opened on Friday 16 May 2017.
