A CITY centre cafe has closed its doors on High Street, while a new kitchen showroom looks set to take over the vacant Jewry Street unit formerly occupied by Wilds Sports.

Caracoli, which has a nearby branch in Alresford, closed for the final time on Sunday.

On Monday morning, customers were greeted by a sign in the window of cafe, located next to Ask Italian, inviting them to instead visit their Alresford branch.

Explaining the reasons for the city centre closure, Nathan Bryant, head of operations, told the Chronicle: “We have decided to concentrate on the other key stores, particularly Alresford, which is the original Caracoli.

“We’ve always thought of the Winchester store as a trial and in the end it didn’t really hold true to our brand values.

“The closure was done in a positive way and we are looking to open more stores in the model of the Alresford and Haslemere ones in the future.

“We are still one big happy family.”

Mr Bryant added staff members from the Winchester branch were offered jobs at other Caracoli branches, which remain open in Alresford, Farnham, Haslemere and Guildford.

The news comes as a planning application was submitted to covert the former Wilds Sports shop in Jewry Street into a kitchen showroom.

The proposal was submitted by Jeffrey Forrester for a change of shopfront and display of advertisement.

A separate application, also submitted by Mr Forrester, is seeking permission to create individual lettering studs fixed to timber fascia, changing the appearance of the former independent store.

A closer look at the plans shows, if approved, the building would be used by Tom Howley Kitchens, which describes itself on its website a having “established an exceptional reputation, where attention to detail and superb British craftsmanship are second to none”.

The business currently has more than a dozen showrooms around the country, with the nearest based in Guildford.

The arrival of a new kitchen-maker in Winchester city centre follows the opening of The Shaker Kitchen Company, which took over the former Cadogan and Co fashion store in The Square in February.