New Starbucks drive-thru coming to Rochdale

Site view of where the new Starbuck drive-thru in Rochdale will be

A new Starbucks drive-thru has been given the green light for a retail park in Rochdale.

A section of the car park on Whitworth Road which serves Dunelm and the former Carpetright store, will be transformed into the well-known American chain coffee shop.

The site currently accommodates 128 car parking spaces, but that will be reduced by 66 to make room for the new drive-thru unit.

The popular US coffee giant already has two units in the town centre and another drive-thru unit has also been planned for Sandbrook Retail Park.

The new premises on the edge of Rochdale town centre would be 171 sqm in size, contain outdoor and indoor seating, and a footpath to Whitehall Street, Whitworth Road and Duke Street.

The applicant, Glenbrook Investments Ltd, explained that the new café will give rise to various economic benefits, including the creation of 24 full and part-time jobs locally. Glenbrook added that additional indirect jobs would be created during construction.

Planning papers read: “The proposed Starbucks drive through café will represent a high-quality development and will promote an attractive and contemporary design that respects the site’s local context, to the benefit of the local and wider environment.”

Starbucks coffee shops are open seven days per week (including the majority of bank holidays). The opening hours for this site are not yet confirmed.

However, it is understood that the applicant is seeking to negotiate unrestricted hours of operation.

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter