London has changed a lot over the last 20 years, when getting a vaguely edible, reasonably priced meal was about as rare as unicorn tears. There was McDonalds and there was The Ritz and very little in between. Now you can’t walk down a street without being offered every variation of global cuisine. And, I believe that one brand was the turning point that got the ball rolling. Pret a Manger.

The British sandwich retail brand opened its first branch at the end of the 80’s and quickly expanding across several stores in London during post recession early 90’s, Pret introduced customers to new concepts such as freshly prepared sandwiches, with interesting fillings, affordable sushi, reasonable coffee, attractive interiors and friendly staff.

And now this week, The New York Times has acknowledged that there is something special about the 34 ‘Pret’ stores opening across the U.S. They’ve pinpointed the success of the brand down to its staff training programme,  that has created a friendly happy staff with an annual turnover of 60% (in food retail 300-400% is normal). 

Expanding into the U.S. has required some development and learning from both the brand and it’s customers. U.S customers are unfamiliar with pre-packaging sandwiches associated with cheap airline meals, don’t like mayonnaise in their sandwiches and prefer regular coffee to espresso and lattes. On my visit to a Pret on Wall Street, I noticed that the bread had been changed to a much darker brittle variety that in the U.K.

In London, Pret is now seen as one of many food retailers fighting for pre-work coffee and lunchtime customers. They’ve retained their approachable brand tone of voice, and added new offers such as hot food and soups. But, maybe it’s time for Pret to keep on progressing as they recently launched a new store design with a softer exposed brick look.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/business/pret-a-manger-with-new-fast-food-ideas-gains-a-foothold-in-united-states.html?_r=1