I went to the Greggs by the bus station.
Not much of a queue as I missed the lunch time rush. But there were a few hungry stragglers after me, enough to form a queue. But no queue formed.
Despite having the same ‘L’ shaped counter as in Cooplands, there seemed to be no queuing culture in this Greggs and instead customers seemed to stand in front of what would be their major purchase. For example, I stood in front of the freshly made sandwiches and an older lady to my left stood in front of the custard tarts.
The sweet and savouries were mixed throughout the counters, and I chose a chocolate muffin that was on the shelf above the sandwiches.
It was a bit burnt and when I left I saw a ringed doughnut that I would have preferred.
Greggs needs to learn that not only does a queue keep order in a shop, but it also helps the customer to see everything on display so they can make a better informed decision on their purchases.
September 22, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Brilliant………. and so very true.
But no amount of humanity would have kept me from the ringed donut
September 22, 2006 at 3:28 pm
I am with you Pamela, but unfortunately by the time I’d seen the ringed doughnut I had already purchased the burnt chocolate muffin.
September 22, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Excellent. I just hope you dont catch me out the next time I am up in Donny!
September 22, 2006 at 4:07 pm
And unique concept for a blog. If only Bill Bryson shoud get a hold of this!
September 22, 2006 at 11:36 pm
The Greggs in Southampton is similar. The counter runs right along the back of the shop, with displays on both sides. But the displays are too far from any queue that forms so you can’t get anything off the shelves without losing your place.
The foods pretty good though.
September 23, 2006 at 4:09 am
Mr Deeds, you said that in this shop there was no queue, that,
“instead customers seemed to stand in front of what would be their major purchase.”
…which sounds familiar to me, living where I do. My question is this:
Isn’t it inevitable, given the lateral disposition of these unruly customers in relation to the counter, isn’t it inevitable that competition would break out, with each person trying to catch the eye of the nearest service person? You don’t mention such goings on at this Greggs, but it immediately sprang to my mind when I read your description. If the customers had no numbered-tickets, how do you explain the lack of friction in this, particular scenario? The lateral disposition is a cul-de-sac to chaos. There’s no way out except to turn around and walk away, which is something I often do, sadly.
September 23, 2006 at 7:42 am
[...] So along comes a new blog standinaqueue (stand in a queue…i couldn’t figure out what it said at all until I visited the blog). “Stood in a queue” is documenting his little adventures standing in line across Britain. And just as I suspected, there is no definite line culture here: Despite having the same ‘L’ shaped counter as in Cooplands, there seemed to be no queuing culture in this Greggs and instead customers seemed to stand in front of what would be their major purchase. For example, I stood in front of the freshly made sandwiches and an older lady to my left stood in front of the custard tarts. [...]
September 23, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Oh Fred, what are we to do with Greggs?
Maybe it is time to write them a letter to try and understand their apathetic attitude towards queuing. Which reminds me, Woolworths have replied to last week’s letter. I must post it up here.
September 23, 2006 at 6:24 pm
J Tomlinson, you are right to ask.
The system that was in place was similar to the other Greggs in town, not Two Queues Greggs but Next Please Greggs. And so the servers would say “Next please” very loudly and the person who had been waiting the longest would make their order.
As you are aware, I am uncomfortable with this sort of queue but for two reasons. The first being not knowing how long the queue is and so not being sure of how long I have to make up my mind on my order. And the second is that even though it may be my turn next, as there is no actual physical queue in place it seems impolite or disrespectful to be served in front of the old lady on my left who wants custards tarts.
There is no outward friction J Tomlinson because this is England, instead it is magnified internally.