Eager punters queued down a busy town street to get their first look (and loaf) inside famed bakery Gail's, which has opened its first ever northern venue in Wilmslow. The London bakery firm has big plans in the region - as hot on the heels from the Wilmslow launch will be openings on King Street in Manchester and Shaw's Road in Altrincham.
The grand opening of Gail's on Water Lane in Wilmslow went off with a bang - after the offer of a free loaf of sourdough for customers spread around the town. The doors opened at 7am when queues were already forming and continued throughout Thursday morning.
The bakery is also well known for its range of artisan sweet treats, pastries, sandwiches and cinnamon buns, the latter of which was doing such a roaring trade on opening day that they had sold out of the first batch by 9 and were swiftly baking more for the lunchtime crowds.
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Daily opening hours at the shop in Wilmslow will run from 7am to 7pm, serving up sourdough breads, pastries, sandwiches, and cakes alongside its specialty house blend coffees. There is also a large and stylish seated cafe area for dining in, with free Wifi.
While it is known for its sourdough loaves (priced from £4), there is also a daily changing array of cakes, pastries, croissants and brownies. Prices for takeaway cakes range from £2.70 for cheese scones or chocolate cookies and £3.95 for the likes of flourless chocolate cake, sea salt caramel and banana and pecan cake.
There's also an array of sandwich options on foccacia, bagles or seeded buns from £2.30 to take away, individual quickes for £4.90 and a dine-in menu where you can get hot breakfasts and soups and sandwiches. Salads and yoghurts and granola are also available in the fridge on the way in too.
The bakery has been given a sleek new interior, which is said to be themed around the nearby National Trust property Quarry Bank Mill at Styal. Their design team Newman Gauge Design "embraced the influence of textiles and linked the space with this common thread".
That includes woven elements in the room including in the large light fittings, and divider walls between different tables. Fans of the brand will also be able to pick up things like branded Gail's bags, their cookbook and their "famous" hazlenut and chocolate spread.
Meanwhile the outside features the familiar Gails logo and white and red colourways. It is based on Water Lane in Wilmslow, next to the mutli-storey car park.
While Wilmslow is the first retail store in the north, Gail's opened a wholesale bakery in Openshaw back in 2017, and has been providing bread and pastries to some of the region’s best restaurants, hotels and cafes ever since. The brand has also recently partnered with nonprofit Eat Well MCR, and supplies surplus food to those suffering food poverty in the region.
Gail's was founded in the early 90s in London by chef and baker Yael (Gail) Mejia. Since then, it’s grown to over 100 locations around the UK, from London and Brighton to Oxford and Cambridge. But the Wilmslow opening is the furthest north it has so far ventured.
The new King Street branch will be opening on the site of the former White Stuff shop, while the Altrincham site will be close to Altrincham Market on Shaw's Road. Bosses say Altrincham is likely to open first, swiftly followed by Manchester "in the next few months" with more precise dates for openings yet to be confirmed.
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