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24
Feb 2024
'I'll probably lock the door and cry', says owner of closing Harrogate shop
When Jo Brain opened a sandwich shop on Skipton Road in Harrogate in 1972, she probably little suspected that it would still be serving up bacon butties more than half a century later.
The Bread Bin became the go-to place for a quick breakfast, brunch or lunch in the New Park area long before “go-to place” was a commonly used phrase.
After passing through several owners’ hands in the 1980s, it was bought by Jenny Stanley, who in 1991 took on Lesley Smith as an employee. Lesley bought it in 1997, and it is her daughter, Jude Gray, who runs it today.
But, as reported by the Stray Ferret last week, the Bread Bin’s regular customers will have to find a new place to grab a sandwich, because the local landmark shop is to close within weeks.
Jude took the decision to shut a couple of months ago. She told the Stray Ferret:
For many who live and work in New Park, it will be the end of an era, and for some, almost the passing of a daily part of life. Jude said:
The menu offers the old standards – any of the main components of a cooked breakfast, in bread – as well as more recent innovations, such as Chinese chicken mayonnaise and piri piri chicken. And chips, of course. Jude said:
With such a loyal customer base, it must be a going concern, so why didn’t she just put it on the market? After all, cafés and eateries are always springing up around town – there must be someone willing to give it a go? But that, it seems, is exactly the problem – there are at least six sandwich shops currently on the market in Harrogate. Jude said:
Instead, Jude plans to convert it into a house, and swap homes with her mum. She said:
The house-swap is about as far into the future as Jude is looking – she doesn’t yet have any firm plans for the future. She doesn’t think she’ll regret saying goodbye to the Bread Bin, and yet shutting up shop for the last time at the end of February – or possibly in March – won’t be easy. She said:
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