As timing goes, it doesn’t get much worse than issuing a profit warning on the very day a new series about you starts. But that was the fate of Greggs this week, as it blamed a 4.4% slide in like-for-like sales on bad weather and “under pressure” consumers - just hours before the first episode of “access-all-areas” documentary Greggs: More than Meats the Pie (it’s a bakery, but why let the facts get in the way of a crap pun?) broadcast (9pm, Sky1, 29 April).
The profit warning did, however, underscore why Greggs has embarked on such a bold store transformation plan, starting with 10 outlets in the North East. Some stores had not been refurbished for years and it showed - one looked more like a nightclub.
It was soon out with the new(ish) and in with the old as the cheap and cheerful look made way for a more upmarket, traditional bakery affair (complete with pushbike on wall) and 24 new lines, including giant cupcakes.
While the staff were excited (particularly master baker John, who felt he could give Paul Hollywood a run for his money), not all the customers were. “Disgraceful” grumbled one on the absence of cutlery in the café area, while another declared: “I think it could be back to Wetherspoon, ladies.”
Most came round, though, and the stores also delivered the desired uplift in sales. But with only 100 or so more refits this year, it’s a drop in the ocean for a chain with almost 1,700 outlets. Roger Whiteside, who didn’t feature because the series was filmed when Ken McMeikan was still at the helm, has his work cut out.
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