Finance Roll

The "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" was established by Anne Beiler in the year 1988. It is head quartered in the Lancaster city, Pennsylvania. The idea of going into baking business occurred to her while she was working at a concession stand in Maryland. The pretzel was the most popular food item and it became a huge hit when she started to hand-roll the pretzels in front of the customer. Eventually the business prospect of pretzel led her to establish her own shop and as the saying goes, "the rest is history".

The "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" stores and kiosks can be found in the shopping centers, railway stations and airport across US, UK, Asia, Venezuela and Middle East. The companies stores not only serve varieties of yummy pretzels, but also numerous tasty dipping sauces and drinks. "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" is a privately held company with an employee head count of one hundred and fifty.

The Franchisees of Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels

The "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" started franchising in the year 1989. As per the records of 2009, "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" has 792 franchisees throughout USA, a staggering 211 franchisees in the foreign countries and 2 franchises at Canada. "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" is looking for franchisees at domestic as well as the foreign market. To encourage marketing and growth in sales, "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" organizes franchise contest. As special programs, "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" sponsor golf tournament as fund raiser for "Children's Miracle Network".

The Cost And Fees For The Franchise

The franchise fee, collected is $30,000. The ongoing royalty fee is fixed at flat seven percent. The terms of agreement are valid for twenty years and it is renewable. To set up a franchise will cost a minimum of $1,97,875 to a maximum of $4,39,100. The company offers its franchisees the option of setting up an Express shop or a kiosk. The franchise fee, startup cost, equipment cost, Inventory cost, receivable accounts costs and payroll costs are financed by the company in case of third party. However, none of the in house costs are financed by the company.

The Desired Qualification And Operations For Setting Up A Franchise

The potential candidate should have adequate industry experience and sales skill to take up the mantle of running the franchise. The net worth for taking up a franchise should be $300,000 as per location. Interestingly, fifty percent of the franchisees hold more than one unit. The absentee ownership of the franchise is not permitted. The number of employee requirement is set at 9 to 12 for all franchised unit.

Training And Ongoing Support

The training is organized at the head quarter for two weeks, followed by five day training at the franchisee's location. The ongoing support is provided in the form of news letter, meetings, toll free phone line, internet etc.

The food industry will never be out of circulation. The demand in the food industry always remains for new entrants. The "Auntie Anne's Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels" is a well accepted brand name. It is most certainly encouraged to take up a franchise with the pretzel company.