‘ I can remember when the first Bills was a greengrocers in a small Sussex town, and for reasons unknown they started doing a few snacks and serving coffee.’ Same here.
Odd little caff up the stairs.
They got very lucky, one of the few to benefit from the disaster of the Lewes floods. Throw in some venture capital & Whizbang, we’ve got ourselves a chain run by spreadsheet & no taste buds.
By the time Bills got to Brighton, it was done.
We had a local Bills open in the worst premises in the worst road. It was doomed to fail as passing foot traffic would not even notice the toad & there was nothing nearby to lure punters in. Besides loads of nearby caffs were family run, in better character shops in prime location for that area. Really bad business decision to open up a new venture there.
Someone somewhere relied upon a flat map & estate agent spiel. An afternoon moseying round the area would show why no other business had chosen the site.
Which reinforces the point that once the chain money is in charge, the dining experience takes a dive.
Yet.... I recently tried Bills at Windsor for a family scoff & it was OK. I notice the delivery crates, that came through as we were eating (!) had Cote embossed on the side.