Pret A Manger is set to open for the first time in Shrewsbury this Friday, 6 April.
The shop, located near Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill Shopping Centre, will feature three floors of internal seating for around 120 customers, a menu of freshly prepared salads, sandwiches, baguettes and breakfasts, and organic coffee and teas, and free Wi-Fi.
Pret’s menu of sandwiches, baguettes, salads, snacks, hot food and sweet treats will be on offer and all fresh items will be made daily in the onsite shop kitchen by Kitchen Leader Michael and his team. The shop’s Baristas, Daniel, Francesca and Raluca, along with the Front of House team, led by Aline and Silvia, will be on hand to serve a range of organic teas, coffees and hot chocolates, alongside freshly made smoothies and frappes.
Joanna, General Manager at the new shop, has worked at Pret for seven years and started working as a Team Member. She said, “What a privilege to open Shrewsbury’s first Pret A Manger. Our fantastic team are excited to open the doors to this beautiful shop and meet our new customers.
“To celebrate the new shop, we’re going to open for a sneak peek this Thursday 5 April from 8.00am. The first 400 customers through the door will receive breakfast on us!” The breakfast will consist of a pastry, breakfast roll, breakfast baguette, porridge or five berry bowl, and a Barista-prepared hot drink.
This new shop also features ruins that are believed to have been a merchant’s townhouse as Pride Hill one formed part of the medieval town’s commercial centre. The site’s original building was partially demolished in the late 1600s when cottages were built within its shell. In the 1900s, the remains of a wall were identified as being that of Bennett’s Hall and became known for a while as the ‘Old Mint’, as it was mistakenly identified as the site of Charles the First’s royal mint. The monument wall is visible on the upper floor of the shop.
As part of Pret’s commitment to help alleviate the pressures of homelessness in the UK, the new shop is on the look-out for local charities to donate unsold food to at the end of each day. Over the past year, Pret’s national scheme has distributed over three million food items to homeless charities, hostels and shelters across the UK.
Juanita Cracchiolo, Pret Foundation Trust Project Manager, commented, “We’re currently looking for local charities to support through food donations each night and would love to be contacted by any organisations who feel they could benefit from collecting fresh, unsold food from us in the evenings.”