Black Sheep Coffee is eyeing a move to Dundee as the coffee chain submits plans to revamp an empty city centre unit.
The popular coffee brand has lodged an application with Dundee City Council to renovate the former Patisserie Valerie shop on the High Street.
The unit has lain empty since Patisserie Valerie shut in September last year – with the business citing “unprecedented challenges” for the closure.
It was one of two Scottish stores to close as a result of the company’s cost saving measures.
Plans submitted to Dundee City Council
Under the plans lodged by Black Sheep Coffee, which need to be approved, work will be carried out to install seating and serving areas at the empty shop.
Existing wall coverings will be stripped if necessary and replaced with a “concrete effect” covering.
The coffee brand is also seeking permission to replace the existing Patisserie Valerie signage on the outside of the building with its own branding.
Black Sheep Coffee was founded by former St Andrews University students Eirik Holth and Gabriel Shohet, who opened the first outlet in Camden in 2013.
The firm has seen a rapid expansion over the last decade and has opened shops across the UK, including in St Andrews last year and in Aberdeen’s Union Square in May.
They have also branched out globally, with a new site slated for Dallas, Texas – adding to existing Black Sheep Coffee shops in Paris and in Manila.
High Street performing better than Dundee average
The Patisserie Valerie on the High Street closed a little under a year ago and was one of nine across the UK to be shuttered.
At the time, the company said it was closing nine stores in total because it felt the stores would not recover sufficiently amid further cost pressures.
Data from The Courier shows the High Street (including City Square ) has a vacancy rate of 11.1%.
This is below the average across the city, which is 15%.
