One of Newport 's newest traders has said he believes the city centre "will bounce back" as he prepares to open his doors.
Coffee Corner, a cafe and coffee shop, is set to open up in Friars Walk shopping centre in the coming days, providing a much needed boost to the city centre during the pandemic.
The shop is run by Richard Steele who previously ran the Muffin Break chain in the centre.
He has now decided to re-open the cafe as an independent venture, with offers galore and plenty of mouthwatering treats in store.
Speaking to WalesOnline, Richard said he was "very excited to be back in Friars Walk and to be able to see and serve our loyal customers again.
"We are proud to be part of Friars Walk and a company that doesn’t give up, and we believe that Newport is great city with so much potential."
He added: "We also believe that the economy will bounce back after April this year.
"People want to come out having been stuck indoors for so long, and we look forward to seeing so many regular faces return to the city centre."
If you've grown used to the old Muffin Break cafe - one of Friars Walk's original tenants when it opened in November 2015 - fear not; from its staff to its cakes and coffees, much of the old cafe will remain the same.
"As an independent family owned business we have introduced our own special prices on all hot drinks for our loyal customers and will be accepting old Muffin Break cards and exchanging these for free coffees," Richard said.
"We are a hard working family who listen to our customers and as a result have introduced some exciting new lines, such as our luxury milkshakes range to go along side our range of frappes and smoothies.
"We have a wide range of breakfast, sweet and savoury items as well as our premium coffee range and will be listening to our customers via feedback cards going forward."
The news comes as another positive step for Newport city centre, which had been hit by a number of high profile closures including Debenhams and Jack & Jones in recent months.
Earlier this month a new cake shop, Eggfree Cake Box, became the newest trader on the scene when it opened its doors to positive responses on Commercial Street.
Owner and manager of Eggfree Cake Box Sheraz Hassan said at the time that the shop had had "a very good response from people in Newport.
"It's going really good. Even though there's not that much footfall in the town centre at the moment, the customers who have tried our stuff keep coming back and they loved it.
"Actually it's been busier than we expected. We try to fill up our fridges every day and at the end of the day they're all empty."
Coffee Corner becomes the fourth independent traders in the shopping centre, following Sin City Comics, Jeffries Jewellers and Singar Beauty.
