A SEASIDE burger chain has closed its final store after nearly 50 years.
The owners of the city institution left loyal customers with a touching message – and a “heartfelt” window display.
Residents, tourists, clubbers and cops have all sampled the delights of Grubbs, which has been a feature of Brighton since it first opened in 1979.
At its peak, the chain had four stores in the city and offered a selection of more than 15 burgers.
Three of its city stores closed in 2021 after the owner reportedly lost his wife in a car accident in the pandemic.
Now the final store – in Western Road – has also shut.
In a sweet parting message, the owners pinned a note to the store door. It read: “Thank you for 50 years of your custom.
“Grubbs will always belong to Brighton. Xxx.”
The front window was also decorated, with dozens of napkins displayed as a heart.
News of the closure has been met with dismay from locals.
In a post on Facebook, one said: “Gosh. Grubbs. A blast from my Friday night supper past!”
Another posted: “Excellent burgers.”
A third person wrote: “Sad but inevitable.”
Grubbs burgers were once deemed so good that in 2014 four cops were reportedly spotted by a passer-by in Western Road, Hove, as they queued at the burger bar.
When the city’s local newspaper asked readers what they considered to be Brighton’s “signature dish” earlier this year, many named Grubbs.
The seaside institution is not the only burger chain casualty this week.
The owners of a popular restaurant in Manchester also announced they had closed with immediate effect after entering insolvency.
Vegan Shack launched in 2019 and offered a plant-based twist on classic junk food including burgers.
Posting on Instagram, the owners wrote: “Hey everyone. This isn’t the message I wanted to send, but I wanted to be upfront with you all.
“Vegan Shack has now closed and is entering insolvency.
““We had planned to keep trading until Christmas and close on our own terms, but circumstances outside of our control meant we had to stop trading immediately, which left us with no choice but to begin the insolvency process.
“It’s a difficult and emotional time, and it’s affected not just us, but also our staff and some of our suppliers, all of whom have been incredible throughout this journey.”
In response, one customer wrote: “Oh I’m heartbroken. Thank you for all the amazing food. I’m gonna miss it so much.”
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
