York cafe Bison launches pay-as-you-feel offer before closing reports MAXINE GORDON
A POPULAR York cafe facing closure is running a 'pay as you feel' offer to customers on all food and drink – including alcohol – on its last two days in operation.
Bison in Heslington Road will shut its doors on next Thursday – August 6 – and the discount offer will run on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
Owner Nicholas West said it was with a mix of "relief and sadness" that he was selling the business.
He took over the ownership of the popular coffee spot three years ago; it first opened in 2012 as a cafe-cum-vintage shop.
Nicholas told The Press the new owner was likely to change the cafe's name from Bison and give the business a rebrand.
The Bison Coffee Bar Image: Maxine Gordon
And he revealed another reason for shutting up shop – he is returning to his previous career as a teacher.
He admitted trading had been tough, adding he did not pay himself a wage and, like many small businesses, was going from day to day hoping to just break even.
"What you earn in one day goes to pay for the next," he said.
And ahead of the closure, Nicholas has taken to social media to invite customers into the cafe on the last two days of trading to take advantage of a cut-price deal.
Bison cafe on Heslington Road which will close on August 6. Photo - York Press
Posting on Bison's Instagram page, he said: "I'm closing Bison next Thursday and I'm not sure how much stock I will have left.
"I don't want to leave a load behind, I don't want to throw a load away, so we will have to sell everything.
"So on the Wednesday and Thursday of next week I decided we are going to have a 'pay as you feel' thing going on – all day on each of those days.
"I'll close between 4 or 5, or even 6 o'clock.
"That includes toasted sandwiches, bagels anything – drinks hot drinks, cold drinks – I have a bit of alcohol left as well, so wine, white wine, red wine, Prosecco, spirits; I'm not going to take them home.
"So for those two days pay as you feel; you are welcome to drop by, say goodbye and I can say thankyou to everyone."
The cafe, with an outdoor seating area on to the pavement, was dubbed a "locals' favourite" by loyal customers who took to social media to share their sadness at the closure news.
Nicholas West at Bison cafe on Heslington Road which will close on August 6. Photo - York Press
Posting on Instagram Tim Farnhill wrote: "Very fond memories of the best coffee in York. A sad loss."
Another fan wrote: "This makes me sad, Bison was such a great place when I lived across the road."
While another posted: "My favourite spot to hang with my housemate and enjoy a coffee and a cigarette when I lived on Willis Street."
On Bison's Instagram page, Nicholas has been backing top chef Tom Kerridge's campaign to halve VAT in the hospitality sector to 10 per cent.
And while he welcomed news from Andy Burnham that some hospitality business were to receive a business rates cut, he wanted the new Prime Minister to do more.
"The government has got to support more independent businesses on the high street.
"There needs to be a rebalance and a level playing field between majors like Starbucks and Costa and places like Bison.
"Three cafes a day are going under in Britain."
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He would like to see bigger companies paying more tax.
Before opening Bison, Nicholas worked part time as a teacher and also ran the popular YO31 Wood Fired Pizza, selling pizzas from a vintage horse box, often stationed in the Coppergate Centre courtyard.
He said besides returning to teaching he also planned to revive a private catering business.
Reflecting on his time at Bison he said: "It was a passion of mine to run a coffee shop."