There is a cheerful red awning and a newly painted cream wooden shopfront on the market square in Macclesfield. A new bakery cafe has just opened, offering ciabatta and sourdough loaves as well as hot cross buns, syrupy cakes, vegetable quiches and of course coffee. Like towns around the UK, Macclesfield has struggled with retailers closing, leaving empty stores, so there is a buzz around the new arrival. But Gail’s, a brand that started in London more than 20 years ago, is controversial. It draws crowds and inspires social media memes, but attracts fierce criticism too.
A recent spate of national media coverage has even asked why some people “hate” Gail’s so much, focusing on everything from who owns it to what it does with unsold pastries. Its arrival isn’t universally popular here either. “We don’t need another coffee shop,” says Linda Willdig. She is out shopping with her friend Nicola Tomlinson, who agrees. “There are too many,” says Nicola.
In fact, from a table outside the new Gail’s you could easily throw a cinnamon bun and hit both a Caffe Nero and a Costa. Gregg’s is just around the corner too. So something different might have been better, says Jane Kent, a community nurse. People will be lazing out on all the bakery stuff, she says. We don’t need more pastries.
At heart, though, the objections to Gail’s are not about what it sells, but that it doesn’t really belong, that it will push up prices and put independent cafes out of business. But Stephanie Lamb, a teacher on maternity leave, says Gail’s is just a “posh Gregg’s”.
But retail experts warn that the very nature of the places that Gail’s is picking means there are likely to be accusations of gentrification, increasing prices and rents for existing businesses and residents. “Gail’s is moving into areas with strong local identities. And when that happens, there will always be a reaction,” says Kate Hardcastle, founder of Insight with Passion. It’s not just about a bakery opening, I think it’s also about what it represents.
Some will see it as a sign of investment and revitalisation, while others worry it’s another step back to our High Streets looking like carbon copies of each other. In Flour, Water, Salt – a direct rival to Gail’s selling sourdough bread, bagels, coffee-iced buns and sausage rolls – that is just yards from the new shop, some loyal customers are adamantly opposed to the newcomer. “Gail’s isn’t welcome here,” says Karen Pearson, a businesswoman who lives just outside Macclesfield. She and her friends are worried that the arrival of Gail’s means the town is “on the up”, when in fact they would rather it “stayed like it is”.
They’re not keen on big corporations coming into the town, concerned they might squeeze out independents. But firefighter and local councillor Anthony Harrison, reckons Gail’s is no match for a place like Flour, Water, Salt. It’s just a posh Gregg’s, he says. Local independents like Flour, Water, Salt say they aren’t worried. Despite difficult times, the number of independent coffee shops has risen over the last five years from 11,700 to around 12,400 now. Flour, Water, Salt’s manager Toby Johnstone isn’t worried. It could mean more footfall, with more people trying his shop too. We are happy there’s something else opening and keeping the town centre going, he says. It’s good to have competition.
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