Zara is, without a doubt, one of the UK’s most popular high street stores – as proven by the lengthy queues that usually form inside its stores.
The Spanish retailer’s popularity always feels especially obvious here in Manchester too.
Most of us will know the pain of nipping into the Market Street shop to be faced with massive queues for the tills, the changing rooms, and for returns (and, after lockdown, to get into the building in the first place).
But there is a little trick that can save you time, and save your sanity.
Zara is a very popular shop, as its queues demonstrate. Credit: Zara
Way back in 2020, Zara quietly added a new feature to its app that makes shopping a lot more enjoyable – though based on the amount of people still queueing, not many know about it.
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You can actually use the app to book yourself a slot in a changing room, and even check how long the wait time is.
In the ‘Stores’ section of the app, you can find your nearest Zara, then click ‘Enter Store Mode’.
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The trick to skip Zara queues is genius. Credit: Tiktok @natalie_mcc
From here, you can book yourself a fitting room, seeing how long the estimated wait time is, then just march straight past the queues to try on your items.
That’s not all, either – you can also use the app to find the exact item you’re looking for in store.
It will show you what section of the shop your chosen fashion piece is located in.
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One TikTok user shared a stunned video revealing Zara’s queue-jumping trick.
In a video viewed 348k times, @natalie_mcc said: “There was a massive queue for the changing rooms – and I thought, ‘I can’t be bothered waiting in that’.
“And someone said you can book a time slot in the changing rooms, so I have gone onto the app, booked a slot – and then it will say it’s available now – and tell you when there’s a slot available.
“Now I only jumped a massive queue and walked straight into the changing rooms to try stuff on – if you’ve got the app, do that!”
One person commented on her video: “You’ve just changed my life.”
Another wrote: “Noooo don’t tell anyone, there won’t be any slots left!!”
Someone else said: “Yes! Used this for ages. You are guaranteed to encounter some death stares from the girls who think your jumping the queue.”
Featured image: Unsplash
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Home Bargains has announced a special two-day closure of all UK stores
Emily Sergeant
Home Bargains has, once again, announced it’ll be closing all its UK stores on both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day this year.
And it’s to make sure staff get a ‘well deserved break’.
After what has been yet another busy year for the retail industry, many workers have been left feeling like they could do with a little extra time off, which is why Home Bargains is following on with what has become a now-annual tradition by shutting up shop on two bank holidays.
All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day & New Years Day.
Announcing the move in a post on social media, the discount retailer confirmed: “All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day and New Years Day. We would like to thank all our colleagues for how hard you have worked this past year, and want you to relax and enjoy the Christmas break with your loved ones.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time the retailer has kept its doors shut on bank holidays.
Many shoppers will recall it has made the same decision to give hardworking staff a break every year since 2019.
Explaining a little more about the decision taken to close all its stores, Home Bargains said: “As a family-run business, we know the importance of being together at Christmas with those we care about most, now more than ever.
“This is our way of saying thank you to our colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication.”
Featured Image – Geograph
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Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week
Emily Sergeant
Who says breakfast has to end at 11am?
In news that’s set to be music to the ears of breakfast lovers in Manchester, Greggs is giving them exactly what they want.
We all know that brunch is a ‘thing’ by now, so now it’s time for brinner to make a name for itself instead, as Greggs has teamed up with Heinz to bring its much-loved breakfast menu back for tea time, kicking off from 4pm onwards.
The move comes as a new survey has found that the majority of Mancs (69%) admit to enjoying eating breakfast food in the evening, saying it’s ‘convenient and comforting’ – even ranking breakfast as a ‘more important’ meal than tea, as well (38% vs 36%).
Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week / Credit: Greggs (Supplied)
Greggs says it has ‘lost count’ of the amount of customers that have tried to order breakfast items after the usual cut-off time, especially in Greater Manchester.
But luckily for those breakfast-loving Mancs, they can finally get their favourite breakfast and sauce pairing long after the morning rush is over next… but only at two Greggs branches, and only for a very limited time.
On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October, the Heinz x Greggs Brinner collab will be available at Greggs St Mary’s Gate and Greggs Oxford Road, from 4-7pm only.
“We’ve lost count of the number of customers who have tried their luck ordering breakfast after 11am, so when Heinz came to us with the idea of making Brinner a reality, it felt like the perfect excuse to give the people what they want,” explained Zoe Harris, who is the Customer Director at Greggs.
“And let’s be honest, a Greggs Bacon Roll just wouldn’t be the same without a squeeze of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.”