Mansfield’s former Frankie & Benny’s to become charity shop three years after closure

Mansfield’s former Frankie and Benny’s is being turned into a charity shop more than three years after it closed.

The Italian-American restaurant on the Portland Retail Park shut its doors in June 2020 during a wave of branch closures.

Permission has now been granted for the vacant building to become a Salvation Army shop.

The application was submitted in October by the premises owner Peveril Securities Limited.

The shop will offer customers cheap items and a location for people to drop off unwanted items at the store.

The premises was also a Blockbuster video shop before it became a Frankie & Benny’s.

There are no changes planned to the building’s parking or exterior, besides a change of branding.

The unit is located on the outskirts of the retail park, next to an existing Burger King.

Planning documents show several other large vacancies in the town centre were considered but rejected for various reasons.

These include the Rosemary Centre in the town centre, Town Mill on Bridge Street and the former college building Ashmead Chambers.

Nottinghamshire has lost numerous Frankie & Benny’s over recent years as loss-making restaurants in the chain were closed.

The chain’s owner The Restaurant Group said the casual dining sector had faced huge pressures in recent years, which had been exacerbated by the Coivd-19 pandemic.

There have been several waves of closures, with 60 locations remaining across the country.

The restaurant on Nottingham’s Giltbrook Retail Park remains open.