From restaurants and cafés to cinema and clothing stores - here’s a list of new businesses which opened in Bury St Edmunds this year
From restaurants and cafés to clothing and jewellery stores, Bury St Edmunds has welcomed a host of new businesses this year.
However, the town has also said goodbye to some long-standing, family-favourites, including Denny Bros, Sneezums and Gastronome as well as Ming's Oriental, Baskervilles and Really Rather Good café.
Mark Cordell, chief executive of Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District (BID), said 2024 has been a challenging year for businesses and next year could be similar.
However, he acknowledged the opening of Primark has helped to attract other national brands and independent traders to the town - about 15 this year.
With continued support from locals and tourists, he remains optimistic that Bury will continue to thrive as a top destination for retail, visitors and tourism.
This year, Bury has seen major retailers move into the arc Shopping Centre, including the long-awaited Primark.
The former Debenhams site, which had stood empty since May 2021, is once again thriving with customers. On its opening day, more than 5,500 shoppers descended on Primark.
The firm confirmed in November 2022 that it would open a branch in Bury.
The move follows demand from shoppers in West Suffolk and the Primark for Bury St Edmunds Facebook group, which had thousands of members.
The basement of the former Debenhams store has been transformed into a cinema.
Everyman, which features three screens and a bar offering cocktails and a range of alcohol-free drinks, opened on Valentine’s Day.
Throughout the rest of the year, other major retailers moved into the shopping centre.
In July, Deichmann opened at the former Peacocks unit following a £600,000 renovation, which created 11 new jobs.
In September, the luxury retailer Oliver Bonas opened in the last vacant unit created from the former Topshop Topman, which had been split into two shops.
The other unit was taken by Phase Eight, which relocated from its previous location on Abbeygate Street, where it had been for 15 years.
However, the Abbeygate Street premises did not stand empty for long.
Just last month, Lisa Angel took over the vacant site and welcomed customers to its latest branch in East Anglia.
Owner Lisa started making and selling jewellery from her Norfolk home in 2004 before she opened two stores in Norwich and another in Southwold.
The Bury store is Lisa’s fourth store and sells trend-led, handmade and personalised products, including jewellery and homeware, as well as its in-house dried flower brand, The Norfolk Flower Room.
Just like the arc Shopping Centre, Abbeygate Street was also a hotspot for new faces.
In March, Annette and George Stanford, who ran Really Rather Good café, announced they would be retiring from the business after 10 years.
By the summer, the town centre location had transformed into a new restaurant offering ‘the essence of Italian cuisine’.
Pommodoro Italian Trattoria opened in July. It was a new venture for Delil Simsek, who also runs Francela, a mediterranean, Greek and Turkish restaurant on Angel Hill.
The restaurant offers freshly-made pizza, pasta and insalata.
Pizza lovers had plenty to choose from this year. Just days after Pommodoro opened, Dough&Co rebranded as Slices, a bottomless pizza restaurant.
Silas Teixeira, who runs Slices alongside business partner Paddy, kept the entire team from Dough&Co and employed eight more members of staff.
She said: “We will have the classics but also offer new flavour combinations, the pizza won’t stop coming to your table until you have had enough.”
A few doors down from Slices, two friends have realised their dream of opening a coffee and wine bar, Blend.
Michael Box and Kristina Tutt welcomed customers to Blend earlier this month.
The pair have worked together since 2020 at several different venues and combined they have more than 30 years of industry experience.
The new venue, which was formerly Ecigwizard, has been extensively renovated by the pair and serves a range of hot and cold foods as well as coffees, teas, milkshakes, smoothies and others to eat in or takeaway.
As well as this, as a licensed venue, it stocks a range of wines, beers and spirits alongside home-crafted cocktails.
However, the opening of new coffee shops did not end there.
Bury was an exciting place for coffee lovers this year with the opening of Alema Coffee, in High Baxter Street, Coffee and Sandwiches, in Risbygate Street, and Costa drive thru, just off the A14 at the Rougham junction.
Alema was a unique addition to the town - and despite being tucked away from the main town centre street, its bright pink design makes it hard to miss.
However, its design is not the only thing that makes it stand out. The coffee beans are roasted and brewed onsite by founder Fabian Macas, who has been working on the project for three years.
A portion of the profits from the shop goes back to his family farm, called Alema, in Loja, Ecuador, which produces the beans.
There, the profits are used to support the farm, run by his dad, also called Fabian, and to employ local people during the coffee growing season.
Using Alema’s coffee beans is Wafflechino, which opened in September in Buttermarket.
A pair of brothers, Izzy and Firat Yildirim, opened the restaurant with the mission to serve ‘affordable’ waffles.
Izzy said he wanted to create a waffle shop that everyone can enjoy, especially for those who might be struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis.
This was not the first business venture for Izzy, who also co-owns Golden Scissors, in The Traverse, and Golden Magic Scissors, in St Andrew’s Street South.
Coffee and Sandwiches is hoping to become a hub for the community after launching at the start of the month.
The Risbygate Street café was created by Elizabeth House Investments Limited, which also developed the flats above.
The café serves coffee and tea throughout the day as well as sandwiches, snacks and ice cream.
The new Costa Coffee drive-thru was the latest food outlet to open off General Castle Way, on Suffolk Business Park, after a McDonald’s drive-thru opened in October.
Together, they have generated around 136 full and part-time jobs.
Probably one of the most exciting business openings other than Primark was the return of The Rising Sun to Risbygate Street after 14 years.
Burlison Inns acquired the venue, which was formerly Casa, in August, and at the same time announced its intention to restore its old name.
And more than just its name, the group has restored the site to its roots as a traditional, beer-led pub with a wide range of cask ales, craft beers, draught lagers and real ciders to go with a vast spirit collection.
Which was your favourite business to open this year? Let us know in the comments below.
