Coffee giant Starbucks looks set to open a new store in Darlington town centre. 

The American chain is poised to take over the former Burger King restaurant in the Cornmill Shopping Centre, on Priestgate, which has been closed for several years. 

The unit - which was stripped of its fixtures and fittings back in 2021 - is now covered in signs advertising an "exciting retail opportunity." 

Now, a new vacancy has opened on the Cornmill Shopping Centre website for a full time store manager vacancy, with a wage packet of £26,000 to £28,000 a year. 

How the former Burger King store lookedHow the former Burger King store looked

Plans for the centre have also listed Starbucks in the unit, which is located opposite Waterstones and looks onto Prebend Row. 

Starbucks has yet to release a statement on the venture - and signs for Burger King still remain inside the unit, meaning it could be some time before the venue opens. 

The news comes just days after the chain - which first launched in the UK in 1998 - confirmed that it would be opening a new drive-thru on Teesside Industrial Estate, in Thornaby. 


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It has also recently opened a drive-thru at Preston Farm in Stockton and at Faverdale in Darlington, one year after announcing ambitious plans to open 100 new stores across the country. 

The former Cornmill Burger King was initially closed during the Covid pandemic after lockdown restrictions were drafted in - but was then closed permanently months later. 

The Northern Echo has reached out to Starbucks for comment.