The Kinmel Park East branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the eastbound side of the A55 near Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire.
Address and Onsite Facilities[]
ADDRESS: A55 Eastbound, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, LL18 5XW
ONSITE FACILITIES: Esso, Spar (forecourt), Starbucks, Greggs
History[]
Opened in 1988/89, the Little Chef at Kinmel Park East was built as one half of a dual sided Little Chef site, with Kinmel Park West located opposite on the westbound carriageway making up the other half. The restaurants replaced the Bodelwyddan branch, located on the old A55, which closed by 1988 after it was bypassed by the new A55. Both restaurants were built alongside filling stations and were housed inside of identical buildings with the pitched roof, double front design. However, whereas most Little Chefs of this design were built using red brick, these restaurants were constructed using stone, a common building material used for Welsh Little Chefs to allow them to fit in with the surrounding landscape.
Even though Kinmel Park Services wasn't as large as some TRSAs such as Sutton Scotney and Bangor, their large car parks, landscaped surroundings and long slip roads made them by far one of the more formal service areas on the road network, therefore giving them a much nicer feel compared to a large majority of service stations.
Unfortunately, despite doing a decent trade, both Little Chefs at Kinmel Park closed their doors in 2012 as part of RCapital's scheme to reduce the Little Chef portfolio in order to focus on more profitable sites. However, the Little Chefs at Kinmel Park didn't close at the same time. Originally, the Little Chef on the eastbound side closed in January 2012 and an online news article stated that Kinmel Park West was to remain open. However, the decision for westbound to close was made and the westbound restaurant pulled the plug in September 2012.
However, the restaurants didn't remain empty for long as Euro Garages acquired both sites and transformed them both into Starbucks in 2013. In 2020, both sites were joined by a Greggs.