Lucy Hooker
BBC Business Reporter
Fromacclesfieldbb report
Jane Kent says Macclesfield no longer needs places to buy pastries
There is a cheerful red awning and a newly painted cream shop on the market square in MacClesfield.
A new bakery coffee has just opened, offering Ciabatta and Levain breads as well as hot cross buns, syrupy cakes, vegetable quiches and of course coffee.
Like the cities of the United Kingdom, Macclesfield had trouble with the closing of retailers, leaving empty stores, there is a buzz around the new arrival.
But Gail’s, a brand that started in London over 20 years ago, is controversial. He attracts crowds and inspires the same social media, but also attracts criticism from fierce.
A recent wave of national media coverage even asked why some people “hate” Gail so much, focusing on everything from who it has it with unsold pastries.
His arrival is not universally popular here either.
“We don’t need another coffee,” said Linda Willdig. She shops with her friend Nicola Tomlinson, who agrees. “There are too many,” says Nicola.
Nicola Tomlinson and Linda Willdig do not think that Macclesfield needs another coffee
In fact, from a table outside the new Gail, you could easily launch a cinnamon bun and knock on both a Nero basket and a Costa. Gregg is also just at the corner of the street.
So something different could have been better, explains Jane Kent, a community nurse.
“People will relax on all bakeries,” she says. “We don’t need more pastries.”
In the soul, however, objections to the Gail does not concern what it sells, but which it does not really belong, that it will increase prices and will put independent coffees in bankruptcy.
But Stephanie Lamb, teacher on maternity leave, is more welcoming.
“I don’t know Gail, so it’s not necessarily a chain for me,” she said. “I’m just happy to have something more in town.”
She likes a latte and a croissant and a place where she can read a book for an hour.
At Gail prices, which would make him collect £ 6.50. Yes, it’s expensive, she says, but she always plans to “give her a whirlwind”.
Stephanie Lamb says she is happy to have something new in town
Gail’s – A name that suggests a traditional boyfriend, a coffee, promotes ancient attractive buildings, often those that are released as banking branches close, especially if it is a corner site which means that it is more visible for passers -by.
It has 170 points of sale mainly grouped in London and the Southeast. But this year, he plans to open around 40 others, including Ely, Cambridgeshire later this month, Bath in April, and Buxton, Derbyshire in May.
When Friday opened in Macclesfield, there was a wave of interest in the new place in the square.
Katerina Obey-Lewis
Friday, Gail opened in Macclesfield on a corner site
Even in the wake of the cost of living crisis, we choose more and more coffee as a treat. According to World Coffee Portal, almost two thirds of the two people said they had gone to a coffee, spending more than £ 6 per visit.
Thus, cafes better integrate the difficult economic climate than most companies. There are now 11,450 brand chain sales outlets across the United Kingdom, against 9,800 five years ago.
Specialty channels such as black sheep coffee, coffee # 1 and Blank Street rush into city centers, while giants like Costa and Starbucks open races and points of sale in retail parks.
Caffe Nero bought several smaller channels, in different parts of the country, and retains their independent brand image so that it can make the most of local loyalty.
Macclesfield has independent butchers, one of the things that Gail is looking for when she chooses a new location
With the enthusiasm for coffee so strong, it is a mystery for the CEO of Gail, Tom Molnar, why people oppose his channel. He feels misunderstood.
Mr. Molnar – A joint owner with support for private capital – has been working to extend the brand since he joined in 2003, but says that it is not only coffee. Its role of neighborhood bakery – fresh cooking in stores and in regional bakery centers every day – is the key.
He hopes to move Gail to many other districts, including the least rich.
“It’s not supposed to be chic,” he insists.
But for the moment, they choose very carefully where to open, using an algorithm to help select the most promising postal codes.
He reports things as if there is a local butcher, bookstores, a park, schools, churches or a producer market.
“I prefer a place that evolves and grows rather than a place too established,” he says.
If the algorithm is in a particular main street, it is a vote of trust in the future of this city.
The firefighter and local advisor Anthony Harrison says that Gail is just a “posh gregg” “
But retail experts warn that the very nature of the places where Gail’s chose means that there will probably be accusations of gentrification, prices and rents for companies and existing residents.
“Gail’s moves in areas with strong local identities. And when that happens, there will always be a reaction,” explains Kate Hardcastle, founder of Insight with Passion.
“It is not only a bakery opening, I think it is also what it represents.
“Some will see it as a sign of investment and revitalization, while others fear that it is another step back in our tall streets resembling carbon copies of each other,” she said.
Karen Pearson wants the city “remains like”
In flour, water, salt – a direct rival of the levain for the sale of gail, bagels, breads and sausage rolls – which are a few meters from the new store, some loyal customers are categorically opposed to the newcomer.
“Gail’s is not welcome here,” says Karen Pearson, a businesswoman who lives just outside Macclesfield. She and her friends fear that the arrival of Gail means that the city is “increasing”, when in fact they prefer that “remain like that”.
They do not want large companies to enter the city, fear to bring out the self -employed.
But the firefighter and local advisor Anthony Harrison, believes that Gail’s is not up to a place like flour, water, salt. “It’s just a chic Gregg,” he said.
Local self -employed such as flour, water, salt say they are not worried
Independents may not be as threatened as people fear, explains Graham Soult, a retail consultant in northern England.
Local owners can offer a more personal touch, respond to local tastes and requests, he says, when it can be difficult for chains to deviate from their given formula.
“I think that a lot of self-employed are really able to sail in all the things that are launched,” he said.
Despite difficult times, the number of independent coffees has increased in the past five years from 11,700 to around 12,400 now.
Flour, water, salt manager, Toby Johnstone, is not worried. This could mean more steps, with more people who are also trying their shop.
“We are happy that there is something else that opens and that the city center continues,” he said. “It’s good to have competition.”
