Pret will continue to open stores outside of city centres in a bid to adapt to new working patterns, according to Bloomberg.
Chief Executive Officer Pano Christou predicts that return-to-work mandates will struggle, and insists the working from home trend is here to stay.
“I don’t see that changing,” he says in an interview with Bloomberg, “We need to adjust to that.”
The food-to-go brand’s previous model relied on focusing store openings in major cities such as London, New York and Hong Kong to capture the trade of passing by office workers.
However, it has now seen a strategic shift which will see it expanding more into market towns, airports and motorway service stations. Only seven of the 78 stores Pret has opened since April 2021 in central London.
“We have huge opportunity for Pret to grow over the next five to 10 years,” Christou says.
It comes after Pret announced it would double its Club Pret discount from 10% to 20% ahead of its international launch, to encourage customers to visit more.
From next month, subscribers to Club Pret will have access to 20% off everything sold in-shop as well as up to five barista-prepared drinks per day for just £30 per month, with new subscribers getting their first month half-price.
