Pret A Manger announced it's closing 30 stores, and everyone's pointing out the obvious

Since March, large corporations and small businesses alike have had to lay off workers or furlough them in order to get through lockdown.

As people weren’t spending money, it was harder and harder to keep as many people employed.

Pret a Manger was one of those chains which everyone thought was impervious – particularly as there seems to be one on every street corner in big cities, especially in the UK.

But this morning, Pret announced it would be laying off staff and closing down 30 stores.

Many pointed out that it was concerning that staff were losing their jobs in a pandemic, but people didn’t really seem to care about the shops themselves too much.

People pointed out that every Pret a Manger in London seems to be within two minutes of each other, as well as the fact that they don’t treat their workers very well. Others didn’t seem to like how much Pret charged for their food.

People also pointed out that it was likely this would be a continuing trend – particularly for chains and big stores which are located in the centre of a city, as people move towards working from home.

Pret announced that it would be shutting these stores as the company is currently making 25 per cent of regular sales.

This may mean that independent shops and small businesses are able to open up in their place, but it’s still too early to tell. It does mean that people looking for a Pret might have to walk for five minutes, as opposed to one for that lunchtime fix.