'Exciting' update after St Johns store closes without a word
The former cookie shop will be a replaced by a new brand very soon
An "exciting" update has been promised after a cookie counter inside a Liverpool city centre shopping complex closed for the final time. Millie’s Cookies, once found inside St Johns Shopping Centre, is no longer serving customers.
The space where the retail chain was previously located, along with various other food vendors, including McDonald’s and KFC, is now available to let. All Millie’s Cookies-related signage has been taken down or covered over. The Liverpool ECHO reached out to Millie’s Cookies for comment.
However St Johns Shopping Centre director Neil Ashcroft, confirmed to the ECHO the space won't be empty for long. He said: "While we are sorry to see Millie’s go we are excited that we will soon be welcoming a new brand into that space - details will be announced shortly."
Millie's Cookies first had a store in Clayton Square, and many people remember buying sweet treats after hopping off the train at Liverpool Central or Lime Street. However, this store closed more than a decade ago.
The unit inside St Johns opened in 2016. It sold more than just cookies, offering customers muffins, ice cream and made-to-order cupcakes. They also had a wedding range - for those wanting to ditch the traditional cake, offering cookie cupcakes and even wedding favours.
Millie's Cookies, founded by Mario Budwig in 1985 and named after his grandmother Mildred, began with a single store in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London.
Since then, it has expanded to multiple locations in the UK and internationally, including India, France, Germany, Egypt, Malta, and Hong Kong. Now, after the unit 81 closure, the closest Millie’s Cookies to Liverpool is Warrington.
The news comes just weeks after former traders lamented the confirmation that St John's Market, found upstairs from Millie's Cookies, will not be reopening to traders.
This is because Liverpool Council is looking to take the space in a new direction. The local authority confirmed the famous market, which was closed down in a row over unpaid rents last year, will not open as a market again.
It marks the next chapter for the market, in a decade of tumult and upheaval for traders and the city alike. Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool Council cabinet member for growth and economy, said he felt the best days lay ahead for the site, with potential leisure facilities touted for the hall in future.