Why things might be looking up again for Greggs and Topps Tiles

Ahead of a big day of retail results on Wednesday, there were two updates on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning by two very different brands. One was by iconic food-to-go goliath Greggs. The other was from homewares specialist Topps Tiles.

While you couldn’t point out many similarities between the two brands on paper, one thing they have in common is that both have recently spoken of a challenging economic backdrop and both have seen their share prices fall as a result.

However, today, both issued results that retail and City analyst Nick Bubb called “surprisingly upbeat”.

Retail Week looks at the reasons for the brands’ newfound optimism and what that might mean for the wider sector.

New product focus

Both Greggs and Topps Tiles reported that innovation and new products had delivered strong sales upticks in their respective reporting periods.

Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie said new products such as its peach iced tea and mint lemonade over-ice drinks, and its newly launched mac and cheese – which has recently gone viral on TikTok – have been driving improved performance.

“We’ve been improving a number of the products in our range through using better quality ingredients, but we’ve also been adding new flavours that we know are trending out there with the public,” Currie said.

“Our product team is constantly looking at our competitors and food trends to ensure that we have something across our entire range to excite all of our customers”.

While less delicious, Topps’ new products have been no less successful from a sales point of view. As part of its ‘Mission 365’ growth plan, Topps has reviewed its product pricing, mix and discount range, as well as adding and expanding categories such as splashbacks and acoustic panels.

This played a part in the brand delivering a 4.1% jump in sales to £128m for the 26 weeks to March 29. Chief executive Rob Parker said the business was keen to build on this continued momentum.

He said: “Following our return to sales growth in the early weeks of the year, we are pleased to see this trend accelerate in the second quarter, driven by some initial signs of success from our new strategic initiatives, including an improved trader digital experience and further category extensions.”

Expanding physical space

Both brands have been busily expanding their physical footprints – in terms of new stores but also across warehousing and logistics.

During the period, Topps opened a new 140,000 sq ft warehouse in Northampton, which it said “has been performing well and has supported Pro Tiler Tools’ continued strong sales growth trajectory”.

The Competition and Markets Authority also waved through the retailer’s acquisition of CTD Tiles – after briefly raising concerns earlier in the year.

The acquisition means Topps Tiles can now work to integrate 30 former CTD locations into its existing store estate, while it has begun closing down CTD’s old warehouses to save on costs.

Greggs is also working on the construction of a new frozen product manufacturing and logistics facility in Derby and a new national distribution centre in Kettering.

In terms of stores, the food-to-go retailer opened 66 new shops in the first 20 weeks of 2025, bringing its total store estate across the UK to 2,638 as of May 17.

Currie said “any way we slice it”, there is room for more Greggs stores across the country. The retailer says once the new manufacturing, logistics and distribution centres are open, it will have the capacity to “service up to 3,500 stores”.

“When that’s complete, we’ll keep that under review over the coming years,” Currie said.

Make hay while the sun shines

The UK has enjoyed a remarkably dry and temperate spring, and both Greggs and Topps have enjoyed uplifts as a result.

Currie said: “Because we’ve had such settled and sunny weather over the last few weeks, I think that does encourage people to come out of the home more. You’ve seen that in some of the clothing retailers and some of the numbers they’ve been talking about.

“It’s almost as if the early spring and the warm weather are what’s got people out and about shopping in the high street, and we benefit when people are out and about”.

Topps also noted that its sales began to improve as the weather turned. While “trading through January was slower”, it said: “Volumes began to build progressively thereafter, with this improving trend culminating in a strong performance in March, when the Group’s underlying sales increased by a high single digit percentage compared to the previous year.”

While both Currie and Parker warned of “mixed” and “uncertain” macroeconomic factors facing UK retailers in the rest of the year, they and City analysts are confident that their businesses have turned a corner.