It's a typical Tuesday morning and one of Greater Manchester's many Greggs stores is open for business. A flurry of customers are popping in and out, and some are leaving armed with boxes and bags full of treats.
As two pals browse the store's shelves, one tells the other: "This is the best thing that's ever happened to Oldham." You see, this isn't any old Greggs, this is a Greggs Outlet.
Last year, the bakery giant revealed plans to open a number of Greggs Outlet stores across the country. Thirty stores have already opened their doors and the new branch on Henshaw Street, opposite Oldham's Tommyfield Market, is the first to arrive in Greater Manchester.
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The first thing you notice as you walk into the store is that there is no hot food counter, which usually catches the eye of every hungry customer who comes through the door. Instead, favourites like sausage rolls and steak bakes are bagged up in multiples and displayed on shelves around the store, alongside sweet treats like doughnuts and Belgian buns.
There are also sandwiches kept in a fridge in the corner of the store, which at first glance appears the same as it would in your regular Greggs, until you notice the prices. Red signs around the shop also remind customers that this isn't your usual Greggs.
The items for sale at Greggs Outlet have all been saved from becoming food waste. Items which were made the day before but weren't sold are passed onto the Oldham Outlet, where they are available for a reduced price.
How much you could save
We compared prices at the Greggs Outlet with Oldham's regular branch at the Spindles Shopping Centre, and the difference was staggering. A pack of four sausage rolls in the regular Greggs will set you back £3.60.
In the Outlet, both meat and vegan sausage rolls are available in packs of four, costing just £1.55 - a saving of 57%, and just an extra 35p over the cost of a single sausage roll in the regular store. Packs of two 'bakes' - chicken, steak, vegetable, cheese and onion, or sausage, bean and cheese melt - cost £1.25.
In the regular Greggs, a single 'bake' from the hot counter costs either £1.80 or £1.90 depending on the filling, so a saving of up to 67% is available in the Outlet. There are two flat rates for the chilled sandwiches in the Outlet - £1.05 for any baguette or roll, or 55p for any sandwich on bread.
Over at the traditional Greggs, baguettes and rolls start at £3.05 and rise to £3.35, while sandwiches on bread cost between £1.15 and £2.10. Pick the right filling, and you could save an incredible 74% at the Outlet.
Then there are the sweet treats. In the Outlet this morning, you could pick up a box of two yum-yums or glazed doughnuts for 55p, while a pack of four jam doughnuts also cost 55p, and a box of four filled doughnuts were available for £1.45.
At the regular store, two yum-yums or glazed doughnuts will set you back £1.30, a pack of four jam doughnuts is £2.55 and a single filled doughnut is £1.20. The saving on the jam doughnuts is the store's biggest bargain, at a phenomenal 78% price cut.
The taste test
I had somewhere else to go between visiting Greggs Outlet at 10.30am and lunchtime, so I didn't fancy leaving a cold sandwich in my hot car. I decided to pick up a pack of vegan sausage rolls and a pack of jam doughnuts, parted with my £2.10, and shared them with colleagues back at the office.
Obviously, the vegan sausage roll didn't have the same crispy texture that you would expect if it had come from the hot counter, but it tasted just as good as normal. Similarly with the day-old jam doughnut, it didn't have quite the same bite as you would get from a new one, but it tasted great and wasn't stale.
Considering the cost savings, the Greggs Outlet seems like a welcome addition to Oldham, particularly after a cost of living crisis which has hit families for more than a year. Greggs is rolling out the stores in areas where it expects customers to have been particularly affected by soaring food, fuel, energy, and housing costs.
By 2025, the company says 50 Greggs Outlet sores will be 'providing affordable food in areas of social deprivation'. A share of profits from the Greggs Outlet stores is also being given to local community organisations - such as soup kitchens and food banks - meaning even more people in Greater Manchester will be able to benefit from the store.
Whatever items you're looking for in the Greggs Outlet, there are some serious savings to be had. But you have to be quick, as when the stock runs out, it won't be replaced until the next morning.
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