HIGH STREET
Christmas in July, at Pret To keep abreast with what the various London stores are doing in terms of Visual Merchandising, I always ensure that I have regular walks around the main shopping areas of London: Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square, and the Kings Road. I was quite staggered when I exited Oxford Street tube station one Saturday afternoon to find fully dressed Christmas garlands around the doorways to every Pret a Manger. Its ever-popular Christmas sandwich was back in store for to hail this marketing campaign in July, even though the festive season was several months away. It was felt that people had missed them last December due to the Covid Pandemic and the subsequent UK lockdown. “Every year customers ask us for the Christmas sandwich to return earlier and earlier, and after many customers missed out on having one last year, we’ve decided to stand by our mission of spreading joy through our food and coffee and bring our iconic Christmas sandwich back early for a limited time this summer,” said Clare Clough, the chain’s UK managing director. Pret has also said that 50p from the sale of each Christmas sandwich would be donated to its charitable foundation, which works to combat poverty, hunger, and homelessness. The hearty club – which contains turkey with a port and orange cranberry sauce, plus herby pork stuffing, baby spinach, mayo, and crispy onion – is available until early August.
