A MAJOR high street bakery chain is set to open eight new stores over the next two months.
Greggs will open eight branches including an outlet store and a drive thru over August and September, The Sun can reveal.
Greggs said in its company results on August 1 it is still on track to open 150 branches in total in 2023.
The bakery chain revealed it had shut 44 shops in the first half of the year, but had opened 94 branches over the same time frame including three outlet stores.
It has now confirmed eight new locations set to open over the next two months, although it couldn't give exact dates.
The new locations due to get a Greggs store are:
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- Manchester, Mosley Common Road
- Stafford, Queens Shopping Park
- Widnes, Moore Lane South (drive thru)
- Basildon, Miles Gray Road
- Hereford, Holme Lacey Road
- Maidstone, Week Street
- Plaistow, Plaistow Road (outlet shop)
- Poole Hamworthy Trade Centre
While the high street has generally struggled since the pandemic with huge numbers of store closures, Greggs has continued to expand rapidly in the first half of this year.
The company said it attributes this to extending its opening hours and offering 'exceptional value' to customers who need food to-go.
Greggs boss Roisin Currie said: "We continued to open further new shops, extended trading hours into the evening and saw increased participation in the Greggs app."
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The bakery chain currently runs around 2,300 shops across the UK, but said it hopes to grow to more than 3,000 stores in the long-term.
It recently opened two more 24-hour airport branches, taking its total to six around the UK.
The latest 24-hour store opened in London Gatwick airport last month.
It has extended the opening hours for around 500 shops to 8pm or later.
Meanwhile, it has at least 17 drive-thru stores across the country and plans to open as many as 10 more by the end of the year.
Greggs has also opened concessions inside other major stores including Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Primark.
Rivals to Greggs haven't fared as well this year, with chain Le Pain Quotidien closing all but one branch last month.
Meanwhile, Scarborough-based bakery chain Cooplands shut nine of its shops in June.
You can find your nearest Greggs store using its 'store finder' tool on its website and typing in your address.
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