Mint Leeds: Salon closing on Boar Lane 'with heavy heart' after 20 years amid city centre 'traffic flow' issues

Mint Nail and Beauty, based at Trevelyn Square off Boar Lane, confirmed its plans to shut the salon "with a heavy heart", in an email sent to customers last night (Friday, April 21).

The salon will close on Saturday, April 29.

However, it said it would "not be the end" for its city centre business as bosses were searching for a new, smaller site to relocate.

The salon's news comes amid a flurry of business closures across Leeds following the turn of the year, amid rising economic pressures during the ongoing cost of living crisis. Popular Leeds bar and restaurant Banyan, in Horsforth, announced its permanent closure - prompting a flood of messages from disappointed customers – on April 11. Mint currently has three other venues, including White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds, The Beauty Rooms in Wakefield and a Meadowhall location.

The email said: "Dear Valued Mint Leeds City Centre Clients, it is with a heavy heart that we tell you that after more than 20 years of Mint Leeds City Centre on Boar Lane we are leaving the unit on Saturday the 29th of April.

"This will not be the end of the Mint Leeds City Centre story though. We are looking for another suitable & smaller site in the Leeds City Centre so please watch this space and we will keep you informed.

"Our team are moving to other Mint salons in The White Rose Shopping Centre - Leeds, Meadowhall - Sheffield and The Beauty Rooms in Wakefield for now."

It urged customers to "stay with us" and said the teams at its other salon locations "do all the same treatments and of course to the same high standard that you have come to expect".

The business said rising pressures following on from the pandemic, along with recently-introduced Leeds city centre traffic measures, were among the reasons behind the salon closure.

"We are so sorry that it has come to this but the legacy of Covid and the change in how people work impacted the city centre more than our shopping centre sites," the email said.

"This was compounded by the recent changes to the traffic flow through Leeds City Centre. We are sure that in time this will have a positive impact on the City but at this time it has had a negative impact on us."

Major changes to traffic through Leeds city centre have been introduced over the last few months, as work continues to pedestrianise the area surround Leeds City Square.

Some 2,000 fines-a-month have been issued to motorists driving breaching new ‘bus gates’ rules on City Square and Vicar Lane, according to an investigation by the YEP.

Mint's city centre branch is keeping the same telephone number, it said.

The email added: "For now a sincere thank you from Mint and a personal thank you from me for your support and loyalty to the team and the Mint Brand. For those of you who know me, you will know that this decision has not been easy."