Cadena Cafes Limited facts for kids

Cadena Cafés Limited was a popular chain of coffeehouses in South West England. It started in 1895 as Lloyd's Oriental Café. Later, it became Lloyd's Cadena Cafés Ltd, and then just Cadena Cafés Ltd in 1907. The company grew to have over twenty branches.

In 1933, Cadena Cafés took over another company called Dellers Cafés which was based in Paignton. Eventually, a large supermarket chain called Tesco bought Cadena Cafés in January 1965. The Cadena cafés then slowly closed down during the 1970s.

Growing the Business

In 1902, when it was still called Lloyds Oriental Café, the company had branches in cities like Bristol, Oxford, and Hastings. They served a special coffee blend they called "Cadena."

By 1919, the company was known as Cadena. They bought two cafés in Cheltenham, Cosy Corner and the Oriental Café. They made Cosy Corner much bigger. In 1924, Cadena added a "grill room" just for gentlemen at their Bristol branch on Wine Street.

New Locations Opened

Cadena Cafés continued to grow. In 1927, they started holding their big yearly meetings at the new Berkeley Café in Bristol. They also opened a new branch in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth. They bought land in Reading and Salisbury to open new cafés there.

The new cafés in Reading and Salisbury opened in 1929. In 1933, Cadena made a big move by buying the Dellers company. They also opened a new café in Winchester in 1934.

What the Cafés Offered

Cadena Cafés were more than just places to grab a coffee. They had different rooms for different purposes. For example, the Cadena in Tunbridge Wells, which opened in 1902, had a special smoking room for gentlemen and a tea room for ladies.

In 1919, there were plans to add an upstairs "dining salon" and even a roof garden at the Cheltenham café. By 1924, the Wine Street branch in Bristol had a "Grill Room" with a "quick lunch counter." The Berkeley Café was so large that it could host big company meetings. In 1931, Botherway's Café advertised a ground floor café and fancy "Connaught suite of rooms" upstairs.

Music and Dance

The cafés were also places for music and dancing. In 1903, the Cadena in Hastings started offering "musical afternoon teas." The Cosy Corner café had a special licence for music in 1919.

In the 1930s, the Cadena in Winchester even became a ballroom on weekends. They held special dances during the Christmas holidays. During World War II in 1944, the Eastgate café in Gloucester was used for ballet lessons and public dances.

Wartime Challenges

When World War I started, many people joined the army. This caused a shortage of workers. In 1914, Cadena was taken to court for having a fourteen-year-old work longer than allowed hours in their Bristol bakery. The company apologized, explaining they had to do it because six of their staff had joined the war.

World War II had a much bigger impact on Cadena. Many cafés were destroyed during bombing raids in cities like Southampton, Exeter, and Bristol. Cadena found it hard to get permission to open temporary cafés in these damaged areas.

Later, when cities were rebuilt, local councils sometimes bought the land where Cadena shops used to be. They then leased the land back to Cadena. This meant Cadena had to pay rent for land they used to own. In Bristol, Cadena even fought against the creation of a new shopping center. They worried it would take business away from their existing café location.

Tesco Takes Over

The supermarket giant Tesco announced its plan to buy Cadena Cafés Limited on January 14, 1965. By February, the takeover was well underway. By March, Tesco had gained control of most of Cadena's shares.

Tesco planned to open Cadena cafés inside their supermarkets. They also wanted to start selling Cadena pastries and cakes. At the time of the takeover, there were about forty-nine Cadena cafés and bakeries. While Tesco initially planned to expand Cadena's bakery, this didn't happen. The Cadena Cafés Limited company was eventually renamed Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited in 2011.

In 2007, the BBC reported about a former Cadena director and shareholder named John George White. He retired from Cadena in 1961. He became very wealthy from the Tesco shares he received when the company was sold.

Cadena's Legacy

Even today, the old Cadena cafés are remembered. The building in Tunbridge Wells is now called Cadena House. Many people share their memories of Cadena cafés on nostalgia websites.

Articles recall details about the cafés in places like Southampton, Tunbridge Wells, Oxford, and Reading. The Southampton article mentions the menu, their experiences during wartime, and murals showing local shipping scenes. The Tunbridge Wells article talks about the rules, the menu, and how skilled the waitresses were. It also points out that the last manager's grandchildren are still working in the food business.

The Oxford article describes the business and asks readers to share their own stories about the Cadena. The Reading article, written by a reader, talks about the cinema building the Cadena used to be in. It mentions the smell of "freshly roasted coffee beans" floating across Broad Street.

Today, the Berkeley in Queens Road, Bristol, is a J D Wetherspoons Pub. Deller's Café in Taunton became a nightclub called Dellers Wharf until 2009.

Images for kids

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  Former Cadena Berkeley Café in Bristol near the University

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  38 College Green, Bristol, opened November 1904 by Lloyds Oriental Café Ltd.

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  71-73 Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth. Built 1922 for Cadena Cafes.

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  46-49 High Street, Exeter. Formerly Deller's Cafe, taken over by Cadena by 1933.