Moose Coffee, the Canadian-style diner and coffee shop concept, has secured the first site for its new express format, MCA has learnt.
Moose Express will open on Piccadilly Approach, near the train station, and next door to Staycity apartments, in early March 2018.
Founder Nick van Breeman told MCA he was currently developing a grab and go menu of hot and cold food, with pancakes and egg benedict to be headline dishes, as well as cold sandwiches.
Van Breeman said the express format was developed to fit the small footprint, high footfall site, and said it would be a focus for growth going forward, as well as opening up new opportunities around catering and delivery.
He said he was still keen to expand the main four-strong Moose Coffee diner brand, and would be targeting Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield in 2018.
Van Breeman said: “It should be quite interesting slight left turn for us. It’s in a great location – 29m people walk up and down that street every year.
“No one that I’m aware of is doing pancakes to go, so we’ll major on that and look at ways we can make it exciting.
“It’s a three year lease and a bit of an experiment, but touchwood it will be something that will grow with us.
“From a cost perspective it has its benefits. We have an upstairs kitchen, which allows us to look at the corporate catering side, and work on deliveries.
“It obviously depends on how we make the offer work. We have a good name in Manchester, so it’s a good way of pulling people in.
“If this is successful we’d certainly look to grow it to other cities, train stations, bus stations and other areas like that.”
