London's property market is so out of control that Greggs can no longer afford to sell pies there

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pie beard

REUTERS/David Moir

Greggs is known for its cheap and cheerful baked goods.

London's property market has become so over-priced that Greggs, the ubiquitous UK bakery chain famed for its no-nonsense sausage rolls and pies, can no longer afford to open new shops in the center of the city.

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On Greggs' earnings call today, CEO Roger Whiteside said Greggs was being forced out of the city, according to The Evening Standard:

The food chain has only a handful of stores in central London but chief executive Roger Whiteside said he would not open new sites at any cost.

He said: "London's going strong but we've still got a problem in zones 1 and 2 because we simply can't afford those rents and keep our prices low. I can't see that changing anytime soon."

Zones 1 and 2 are in the center of the city, where the wealthiest people live. But you wouldn't expect to find Greggs here anyway - its image is very, very down market.

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The chain usually opens shops in poor neighborhoods. YouGov has a social survey database that claims Greggs' customers are likely to have less than £125 a week spare, and probably work in a factory or the social services. They're "moody", "accident-prone", and "stroppy," according to the polling company.

Reporting on an awful, wide-spread child abuse scandal in working class Rotherham, The Guardian - rather unfairly - used the presence of Greggs to illustrate just how bad the town is, writing: "Rotherham has the unmistakable look of a depressed English town: a Bright Box, a Gregg's every 50ft, every second shop a charity shop."

And Google once had to apologies to Greggs for showing a vandalized version of its logo in image search results that showed the chain's brand as "Providing s--- to scum for over 70 years."

But on the plus side, Jake Gyllenhall eats there.

Lunch snobs prefer Pret a Manger. (YouGov customer profile: Female who lives in London, has £1,000 a week to spend, and works in advertising. Her personality is "control-freaky," "self-absorbed" and "arrogant".)

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Still, Greggs is making tons of money whether or not it can afford to open up in central London. Sales in the first six months of 2015 rose 6.4% to £398 million ($623 million); pre-tax profits went up £6.2 million ($9.7 million) to £25.6 million ($40 million).

As this slide from the Greggs Investor Relations team says ...

Greggs

Greggs

... we have so many.

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