Before you knew what was causing mass closures of the high street's favorite chains, did you realize how comforting these chains were? Like Death and Tax, they are the backbone of the British high street, providing you with hot drinks and snacks that may not be considered gourmet, but are still delicious and reliably delicious. Lovers of sani, buns, pastries and of course sausage rolls may be squealing, so hold on to your wallets as Greggs reopens some of its shops during the coronavirus crisis.
Scream! Yes, you heard that right, Greggs will be letting us back through their doors from June 18th. Unfortunately, the only downside is that it's not available in all stores, only 800 out of 1,950 branches. The news was announced on their official website and there was an open list and it wasn't Karen, but mine wasn't on that list and I was furious .
The information was released alongside new measures they have introduced in response to the coronavirus crisis. Keeping employees safe is paramount and they are training employees to adhere to social distancing in-store. They're also providing appropriate (but still optional) personal protective equipment, adding to their already ironclad hand-washing guidelines, and cleaning all equipment and key touch points every half hour.
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What about customers? For those lucky enough to have a shop nearby, the menu is reduced but still varied, and fans of their die-hard vegan sausage rolls will be relieved to know that one is available. The stores only accept card payments and only one adult per household is allowed in the store.
For many, Gregg's progress toward some degree of normalcy will be a hopeful sign for the future. According to the BBC, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, hotels and cinemas in England will be allowed to open from July 4 (at the earliest) as long as they can meet social distancing measures. So hopefully in a month's time you might be able to pick up a snack from Greggs after a socially distanced beer with friends. All fingers, toes and of course sausage rolls are crossed.
See the full list of reopened Greggs stores here.
