A popular ice cream cafe, which closed suddenly over the weekend , will reopen and will be "even better then before", the boss has promised.
The director of Creams Cafe Ltd, Atif Amin, said the shock closure of Creams in Cardiff on Sunday, August 11, was just temporary after new landlords decided to seize the leasehold of the property and change the locks.
Mr Amin said it all happened without warning after the previous landlord who owned the St Mary's Street premises sold it to a new property group. The new owner took on the property, which included all associated debts owed by Creams.
Creams, which was run as a franchise, was powerless to stop the new landlords from seizing the lease after they decided to call in the outstanding debt.
However, since the debt enforcement notice was issued, on August 6, Creams has been in conversation with the new landlord and is now in a position to renegotiate terms, said Mr Amin. They are hoping to reopen the shop in 10 days.
"The new group inherited all outstanding debt," explained Mr Amin, who acknowledged trading on the high street was difficult.
"They just went in and changed the locks and forfeited the lease.
"But we are now in a very good position to negotiate opening again. It's just a matter of agreeing terms. We hope to be trading again in 10 days time."
He blamed extortionate rents and business rates in every UK city for many business failures, including big high street names like House of Fraser .
"The high street is a very challenging place to be," he explained.
"Extortionate rents, with high business rates, which were fine three or four years ago are now catching up with everybody. It's not just us suffering, it's a national epidemic."
The Creams Cafe will now be run by the franchisor, Creams Cafe Ltd. Mr Amin said they had spent Monday and Tuesday giving the premises a "deep clean" and were looking to improve the customer experience when it reopens.
"We will give you a better experience when you come back," he added.
