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Bakery has 'lost 13,000 customers' since bus station moved

Andrew McNair
BBC News NI
Jelena Zaharcuka A woman wearing a black dress, with dark hair sitting on a wooden bench.Jelena Zaharcuka
Jelena Zaharcuka says they "knew there would be a challenge" when the bus station closed

A Belfast bakery has lost about 13,000 customers since the opening of Grand Central station last year, its operations manager has said.

It comes as traders told BBC News NI that a new food market planned for the old Europa Buscentre "cannot come quick enough".

The old transport centre closed its doors in the Autumn.

The market is part of a wider regeneration plan for the area, but businesses that currently still operate in the mall attached to the old bus centre worry that any delays in delivery would impact their ability to continue trading.

"There is no set time for when the food market will open but the latest we have is this summer," said Jelena Zaharcuka from Bread Street Bakery.

"If it's delayed, we should be OK but that can't go on forever," she said.

Staff "knew there would be a challenge" when the bus station relocated but they "made the call" not to close the shop and to "push through" instead.

"We went from around 16,000 customers a day to around 3,000 customers," she added.

"So we're really looking forward to the market opening."

Nica Nica Giuseppe, a man who runs the Nica Nica café, standing in front of the shop front which has blue livery. Inside can be seen tables and chairs. Nica Nica
Giuseppe hopes the projected will be delivered "on time"

Nica Nica cafe owner Giuseppe Micciche said he opened a unit after the bus centre was moved to the new Grand Central Station last year, on the promise of the market opening later in 2025.

"This is why we put our money and our energy here, because we're waiting for the new food market," he told BBC News NI.

"This is really, really important for us, for all the businesses here in the mall."

Giuseppe, speaking in a cafe. He has dark hair tied into a bun, and a dark beard. He has a checked shirt on and behind him is the cafe counter. `
Giuseppe said he opened a cafe in the Europa Buscentre on the promise of a new food market

As he looked around the cafe, and out into a sparsely-populated mall, he added: "At the moment, I have just two customers.

"I hope they are doing everything on time.

What is happening to the Europa Buscentre?

John Campbell
BBC News NI business and economics editor

The former bus centre will be converted into a street food market as part of the wider regeneration of the area around the new Grand Central Station.

The market will be a meanwhile or temporary project ahead of the redevelopment of the building.

The Europa Buscentre closed in 2024 when services moved to the Grand Central.

The wider area around Grand Central is to redeveloped over the next 20 years in a project called Weavers Cross.

MRP A CGI image of a street food market. There are members of the public scattered across the venue, and at picnic tables. There is a bar a coffee shop, and an information point. MRP
An artist's impression of what the food market may look like has been released

County Tyrone developer MRP is leading the project in partnership with Translink, Northern Ireland's state-owned public transport operator.

Paul Beacom, development director of MRP, said the temporary use of the old bus station and mall would also include entertainment and exhibition space.

"The food market will also help support wider businesses in the area reinforcing the pedestrian thoroughfare from Great Victoria Street through the mall to the new Grand Central Station and beyond to neighbouring communities," he added.

Subject to planning, the facility is expected to open in the summer.

A similar temporary food market, Trademarket, operated at a site on the Dublin Road in Belfast between 2022 and 2024.