There have been days when nobody has walked through the door at Just Desserts with the owner saying the city centre is ‘like a ghost town’
Just Desserts vegan cafe in Hull went viral on social media for its post detailing its takings(Image: Submitted)
A cafe serving sweet and savoury plant-based meals in Hull went viral on social media after it reported taking just £30 in one day and having no customers for the four previous Sundays. Owner Clint Barr is urging people in Hull to use independent businesses – or lose them.
Just Desserts, in Silver Street, opened in the summer, serving a wide range of vegan cooking, from pizzas to cheesecakes.
On September 30, owner Clint made the bold move to explain exactly how much the business had taken, admitting customers spent just £30 the previous day. He added that the previous four Sundays, not one customer has entered the building.
His plea to get people through the doors resulted in a boost in footfall but illustrates the lengths some businesses are needing to go to to get customers to visit them. The post said: “Hull – we really need your support now. We’re going to be completely open with you.
“Yesterday we took around £30. Today, so far, we’ve taken £14. And for FOUR Sundays in a row, we haven’t had a single person walk through the door.
“We love what we’ve created at Just Desserts. We make our cheesecakes, cakes, ice cream, pizzas and savoury food with a huge amount of effort, and we’ve kept trying to give Hull something genuinely different. But a small independent business simply cannot keep opening its doors to an empty shop.
“We’ve been saying for a while that we need to see whether Hull still wants us here — and we’re rapidly reaching the point where that decision will be made for us. So if you’ve been meaning to visit, please don’t leave it too long.”
The post went on to ask people to come by for a coffee with a friend, an ice cream or a meal. It ended: “If people want Just Desserts to remain in Hull, now is the time to show us.”
Clint, who has dreamed of owning his own vegan bakery for years after stopping eating animal products over 15 years ago, said: “It’s just been so dire. We’ve been open all summer. Hull city centre is like a ghost town. It’s terrible.
“Ultimately we have all the bills to pay. I’m not getting wages and there’s only so long you can do that for.”
Clint believes that there has been a lasting effect on customers’ habits since Covid. “People just haven’t returned to the high street,” he said. “They are shopping from home, they don’t want to come out of their houses much.”
The business, located in a historic Silver Street building, was formerly a piercing shop before Clint decided to go into the hospitality business. He said: “I have wanted to do it since I was a child. I ended up taking different career paths and over time I managed to get this place. I turned it into a vegan cafe. We are purely plant based. It’s a nice little niche.”
He said he had a choice to turn the piercing shop into a tattoo studio, but with a lack of tattoo artists in the area, he decided to explore the vegan catering route instead. He said footfall has been scarce since opening in the summer, especially on Sundays, where they sometimes don’t see any customers walk through the doors.
The social media post went far and wide, gathering hundreds of comments and hundreds of thousands of views, and business picked up at the beginning of October. But it is leaving him wondering how long this will last.
“If things progress the way they are doing, I don’t think there’s going to be many small businesses left at all. Most of the pubs around here are empty.
“It used to be the main part of town you come to. It’s beautiful round here, the buildings are gorgeous.”
Clint explained how the name Just Desserts comes from the idea that plant-based eating gets justice for the animals. His savoury offering, which is based on plant-based takes on meaty meals, is just as popular as the sweeter stuff.
“We’ve copied a meat-based menu but it’s all plant based,” he said. “When vegans come in here, they can’t believe it! They can have absolutely everything on the menu. You can have a pepperoni pizza but it’s all plant based. All the cheesecakes are made out of coconut cream and cashews.”
Clint believes all businesses in the city centre should co-ordinate to be closed the same day of the week, such as a Monday, to encourage people to visit the city and support local businesses on Sundays. After the post was shared so many times, Just Desserts enjoyed a busy weekend, and Clint hopes the good publicity will help them stick in the minds of vegans and meat-eaters alike.
“I didn’t think I’d get that much traction because I didn’t think the post would do that well,” he said. “Everyone that’s come in has really enjoyed it. We had a nice vibe in here on Saturday.”
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