Café chain with 473 stores closes after eight years of 'concept' branches
SHOPPERS are furious after a cafe chain with 473 stores closed two 'concept' branches after just eight years.
Pret A Manger has confirmed that the remaining “Veggie Pret” locations in London will close.
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The two London stores, on Broadwick Street and Great Eastern Street, will be renovated on February 19.
It means that the store is pulling down its shutters for the last time today.
Meanwhile, the Veggie Pret in Deansgate, Manchester, will undergo renovations on February 26.
A post on Facebook from Veggie Pret said: “Thanks, Veggie Pret
“It started with a tweet, and now here we are. We opened our first Veggie Pret in 2016 to help us get even better at making vegetarian and vegan recipes that everyone would love (not just veggies).
“Since we opened our doors, we have served thousands of vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and sometimes itarains.
“So, what now? We're turning our last three Veggie Pret Shops (Great Eastern Street and Broadwick Street in London and Deansgate in Manchester) into classic Pret shops, to share what we've learned about making brilliant meat-free food with even more more customers, every day.”
Punters were quick to share their thoughts on the latest change.
One wrote: “Depressing move.”
Another said: “What a decline, very disappointing. Most prets now have such a poor choice of plant based things, hardly worth going in.”
“It used to be great for vegetarian and vegan options, but nowadays there isn't much anymore. Such a shame,” said another user.
While a fourth simply said it was the “worst decision ever”.
The first Veggie Pret opened in Soho, central London, in 2016 after a successful trial.
The company subsequently opened ten more and bought competitor Eat to turn its outlets into branches catering exclusively to vegetarians or vegans.
But those plans were upended when the pandemic and lockdowns destroyed the busy lunch trade near office buildings.
Bosses began closing Veggie branches or converting them to standard Prets, where items such as crayfish sarnies and chicken Caesar baguettes remain bestsellers.
Katherine Bagshawe, UK food and coffee director at Pret A Manger, said: “Today one in three of all our main meals are vegetarian or vegan.
“Every Pret store is a Veggie Pret store, with new vegetarian and vegan products on our menu all the time.
“Our original Meatless Meatball Hot Wrap was born in Veggie Pret, but became a top five bestseller across Pret within the first week of launch, showing us how customers want great vegetarian food across all our stores.”
Veganism's mainstream appeal has been helped in part by celebrities such as pop star Ellie Goulding speaking out about their plant-based diets.
Pret A Manger sandwich chain got into trouble last year after charging £7.15 for “Britain's worst baguette”.
The price tag for food in a London Tube station has been stuck on Posh Cheddar and Pickle products.
Furious customers criticized the chain's prices on social media, calling it a 'rip off'.
The sandwich is almost £1.50 cheaper when customers sign up for a Club Pret membership for £30 per month.
A spokeswoman for Pret stressed that the price of £7.15, or £5.95 to eat out, only applies in transport hubs, and that most customers buy the baguette to take away for £4.95 in non- station shops.
'DEATH' OF HOOFSTRAAT
The hospitality sector has been feeling the pressure since the pandemic, as households cut back on spending due to the rising cost of living.
High energy costs and higher prices are also taking their toll, and many restaurants and cafes in the main shopping streets are struggling to stay afloat.
We've seen a slew of closures in the past year and more are on the way.
Pubs such as Wetherspoons and restaurants such as Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito closed their doors.
Costa Coffee on Bruntsfield Place in Edinburgh ground its last bean this week when the store officially closed on Valentine's Day.
Several major retail brands have also gone bankrupt in recent years, such as Wilko and Paperchase.
The Body Shop recently confirmed it has gone bankrupt, leaving 200 stores at risk of closure.
More shoppers than ever are choosing to order online instead of going to the store.
This leaves some retailers struggling with budgets and having no choice but to close stores to cut costs.
British retailers saw the amount of goods sold fall last month, at the fastest pace in three years, as under-pressure households moved some of their Christmas shopping to earlier in the year.
Sales volumes fell 3.2 percent in December, Office for National Statistics data showed, compared with a 1.4 percent increase a month earlier.