When is Greggs reopening? The date 800 UK stores are reopening - and what’s on the reduced menu

Greggs closed its doors on 24 March in line with the UK lockdown, but following the successful reopening of some of its stores, the bakery chain has announced that 800 branches will open from June.

New social distancing measures and a slimmed down menu will be put in place at stores across the country.

This is everything you need to know.

When will Greggs reopen?

Greggs CEO, Roger Whiteside initially announced that a selection of Greggs branches in the North East had reopened on a trial basis, testing how delivery, collection and walk in orders would work using new safety measures.

It was revealed that the trials have been “performing well” and that more branches will be opening.

“We plan to start preparing and opening more shops nationwide from around the 18th of June and we’re currently in the process of selecting around 800 shops to reopen, this will initially include approximately 150 franchise shops,” Whiteside said.

Now, Greggs has taken the next step in reopening its stores across the UK.

Will there be safety measures in place?

As part of the move to reopen more stores to the public, Greggs have introduced new safety measures that customers need to abide by.

These rules are:

- Only one adult per household allowed in the shop

- Follow the safety route signs and 2m floor markings

- Keep 2m apart from other customers

- Customers can only pay by card, cash payments are not permitted

There are new safety measures that Greggs colleagues have to follow as well, including:

- Increased focus on handwashing

- Additional clean down procedures

- Each shop has introduced 30 minute cleans for all equipment and key touchpoints

- Colleagues have been provided with PPE

- Safe social distancing measures behind the counter

Which stores are opening?

Greggs has revealed the full list of stores that were reopened to the public from Thursday 18 June.

You can see the full list of stores here, which have been listed in alphabetical order.

Alternatively, you can use the Greggs store locator tool to find your nearest branch and see if it has reopened.

What is the reduced menu?

The stores that will be reopening their doors to the public will be working from a “reduced range”.

Greggs released what their menu would look like from 18 June.

The menu will include fan favourites such as:

- Sausage roll

- Vegan sausage roll

- Vegan steak bake

- Steak bake

- Chicken bake

- Sausage, bean and cheese melt

- Cheese and onion melt

- Three cheese pizza

- Breakfast rolls and baguettes

- Sweet treats like caramel shortbreads and doughnuts

- Coffee, tea and hot chocolate

You can see the full menu here.

Will my Greggs gift card still be valid?

Greggs states that “all gift cards are valid for two years from date of purchase”.

If you’ve got a Greggs gift card that you’ve not been able to use due to lockdown, and you’re concerned about losing the balance on it, you should contact Greggs.

You can do this by phoning 0808 147 3447.

For those with Greggs Rewards collected via the app, you should be aware that any rewards that have expired while stores were closed will be reissued to your account at a later date.

Online reaction

The online reaction to the news that Greggs are beginning to reopen their doors has been overwhelmingly positive.

Taking to Twitter, users embraced the news wholeheartedly.

One user wrote: “Finally, some good news. Cheese and onion pasties on me.”

Another tweeted: “These are happy tears” in response to the news with a crying emoji.

Are other fast food restaurants open?

Various businesses in the food industry are beginning to open their doors to the public once more after being closed due to lockdown.

Restaurants like Five Guys, McDonald’s, KFC, Nandos and Burger King have opened their doors for takeaway, delivery and drive-thru services.

The likes of Starbucks, Pret A Manger and Costa Coffee have started opening cafes across the UK as well.