Auntie Anne Beiler was content with her life on the farm — until an unspeakable tragedy changed the course of her life, and wound up reshaping food courts across America.
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00:00Auntie Anne Beiler was content with her life on the farm, until an unspeakable tragedy
00:05changed the course of her life and wound up reshaping food courts across America.
00:10Auntie Anne's pretzels was started by Anne Beiler, the real Auntie Anne. Beiler was born into an
00:15Amish Mennonite community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and grew up on a 100-acre
00:19farm with her seven siblings. Beiler only attended formal school until eighth grade,
00:23though she later went back and received her GED at age 50. Beiler married at age 19,
00:28and soon after had three daughters. But in 1975, tragedy struck when her 19-month-old
00:34daughter Angela was killed in a farming accident. It had a devastating impact on their family.
00:39But Jonas and I, from that day on, we began to drift apart,
00:43simply because we didn't know how to talk about our grief."
00:46Beiler revealed in her memoir that she sought support from her pastor,
00:50who took advantage of her grief and abused her. Beiler's marriage to her husband,
00:54Jonas, began to suffer, so they went into couples counseling. It saved their relationship,
00:59and also inspired Jonas to open his own counseling center to help others.
01:02But for that, he needed money — money that they just didn't have.
01:06To help the family's finances, Beiler decided to open a simple farmstand at a local indoor
01:11market in Downington, Pennsylvania. The problem was that a simple stall cost $6,000 in 1988,
01:17equivalent to more than $16,000 in 2024. Luckily, she was able to secure a loan from
01:23her husband's parents in order to get the small business up and off the ground.
01:26At the beginning, Beiler's goal was only to make enough money to support her family.
01:30That first week, she only made $875 — only a fraction of the startup cost. Beiler worried
01:36that she had made a mistake, but with her husband's support, she kept at it.
01:40"'First customer came up for a pretzel, took a bite as they were walking away,
01:46and he came back and said, what is this?'
01:47Believe it or not, there was a time when soft pretzels were not widely known in America
01:52outside of Pennsylvania Dutch communities. Auntie Anne's helped bring this sort of pretzel
01:56to a wider audience and built an entire industry around it."
01:59Despite that, Anne Beiler's first store didn't specialize in pretzels at all.
02:02They were just one thing on the menu, along with pizza and ice cream.
02:06Beiler originally started with the recipes that had been left behind by the previous owner of
02:10her stall, though she tweaked them. At the suggestion of her husband,
02:13she also added a secret ingredient to the pretzel recipe, which remains a secret to this day.
02:18When Beiler premiered her new and improved recipe for pretzels, they were an instant hit.
02:22Beiler soon decided to get rid of pizza and instead focus on the increasingly popular pretzels.
02:27The profits more than doubled, and suddenly, Beiler was bringing in $2,000 a weekend,
02:32the growth necessitated buying more ovens and hiring help.
02:35Though business was booming for Beiler, the stand still didn't have a proper name,
02:39so she decided to lean into her family ties and use the name given to her by many nieces
02:44and nephews, Auntie Anne. With a business name and newfound success, Beiler decided it was time
02:48to expand. She opened a second stand, this time in nearby Harrisburg. That first year,
02:53Beiler made about $100,000, not too shabby for what was supposed to be a part-time side hustle
02:58to help support her family during a tough economic time. Business was booming at the two stores.
03:03Beiler was content, making more money than she needed, and had no intention of opening more
03:07stands. However, those around her kept insisting she should dream bigger. Beiler was reluctant,
03:12but in 1989, she relented, allowing friends and family to franchise and open 10 new locations.
03:18The biggest shift for Auntie Anne's came when the company decided to enter into the then-new market
03:23of mall food courts. Despite being a somewhat reluctant businesswoman, Beiler clearly had a
03:28knack for growing her business. Auntie Anne's pretzels entered the mall scene in 1989. Mall
03:33food courts at the time were a burgeoning business. A specialty restaurant that sold
03:37just a single product seemed to be a risk, but Beiler knew she and her franchisees could do well.
03:42Beiler relied on foot traffic to encourage people to see the stall and stop by,
03:46as well as free samples to further lure customers in. That, along with the tantalizing smell and the
03:51view of the pretzels being made in front of customers, was enough to bring many customers
03:54coming back for more. This allowed her to sustainably grow the business. The mall market
03:59ended up being a windfall. By the mid-1990s, Beiler had expanded to 279 locations and had
04:04grown her company's revenue to $3 million a year. Auntie Anne's grew so big that leadership decided
04:11to section off the country to determine designated markets. Since Auntie Anne's started in
04:15Pennsylvania, the Northeast area was covered. But Beiler decided it was time to think broader and
04:19take Auntie Anne's all the way to the West Coast. But they didn't stop there. After expanding
04:24nationally, the chain decided to go international as well. In 1995, Auntie Anne's opened its first
04:30overseas spot, a store in Jakarta, Indonesia, that set the stage for even larger conquests.
04:35After trying an Auntie Anne's pretzel on a trip to Las Vegas, entrepreneur Alice Suleiman was
04:39hooked. She became a franchisee and brought Auntie Anne's to Indonesia and then Singapore.
04:44Suleiman and her family have created a network of successful Auntie Anne's in the region.
04:48Suleiman eventually passed the franchise down to her children,
04:51keeping the Indonesian and Singapore locations something of a family business,
04:55just as Beiler had done when she expanded the original American franchises.
04:59When you go into business, you know, you gotta look beyond the norm."
05:04After 17 years of unprecedented success, in 2005,
05:07Anne Beiler sold Auntie Anne's pretzels to her husband's cousin Sam,
05:10who had been with the company since the beginning. Beiler had grown Auntie Anne's
05:14to heights that she had never originally dreamed of, but found that expanding the
05:17company was hard work. Beiler had originally founded Auntie Anne's to help support the family,
05:22and she ultimately decided that it was time to spend more of her time with that family.
05:26While Beiler felt confident in her decision, that didn't make the process any easier.
05:30She said that while she cried over the decision for weeks, ultimately,
05:33she knew that it was the right one for both her family and the company they had built.
05:37The company remained in the family for a few more years until Sam Beiler decided to sell.
05:41At that point, he had spent over 20 years with Auntie Anne's,
05:44and he wanted to pursue his personal passions. The company was purchased by Focus Brands,
05:48becoming a part of a larger portfolio that included another mall superstar, Cinnabon.
05:54The shift from a family-owned company to one owned by a corporation was a big one for Auntie Anne's,
05:59but there was an even larger change happening in the wider world that would come to affect
06:03the company. Malls, which were the major stepping stone for Auntie Anne's pretzels
06:07and provided a market that allowed the pretzel empire to grow, began to struggle and close.
06:11Malls have been a part of American culture since the 1950s. In the first decade of their existence,
06:16over 4,500 new shopping malls opened. Early malls didn't offer food courts the way we think of them
06:21today. As popularity grew, however, mall owners needed to find a way to keep people at malls for
06:27longer periods of time. So by the 1970s, many began to introduce food courts. Through the 1980s
06:32and 1990s, malls became a popular spot for teens, who joined the crowds hanging out at the shops
06:37and bustling food courts. But all good things must come to an end. Americans began to prefer
06:42shopping at all-in-one stores such as Target or Walmart. Then came the internet. As it became
06:47easier to shop from the comfort of one's home, fewer people went to the mall. With dwindling
06:51crowds and shrinking profits, many malls began to close. As the 2010s hit, it became clear that
06:57malls were no longer the hot market they once were. Across the U.S., malls of all sizes began
07:02to close down, leaving Auntie Anne's in a tough spot. Then, a worldwide disaster struck one more
07:07major blow to the company. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged what was left of the in-person
07:13shopping market. One Auntie Anne's franchisee noted that the pandemic exacerbated underlying
07:18issues with poor mall attendance. Employee hours had to be reduced while revenue sagged. During
07:23the peak of the pandemic, many locations shut down entirely due to no income whatsoever. What's more,
07:29during 2020, the owners of Auntie Anne's, Focus, laid off more than 100 employees,
07:34citing the pandemic and a significant downturn in sales as a driving issue. Auntie Anne's was
07:39already facing a difficult time, and this could have been the final nail in the coffin.
07:43But while COVID-19 had dealt a serious blow to the company, Auntie Anne's wasn't done just yet.
07:48The good news for Auntie Anne's is that the company is nothing if not resourceful,
07:52and has likewise gained a lot of goodwill over the years. As a result,
07:55its leaders began to experiment with other store options. However,
07:59finding a new market for such a niche product as soft pretzels took some work.
08:03It's one thing to buy a pretzel from a stand as you're walking around a mall,
08:06but it's another thing entirely to go out of your way and drive somewhere just for a pretzel.
08:11Still, in 2021, Auntie Anne's opened its first-ever drive-thru location.
08:15This strategy still played on Auntie Anne's reputation as a place to grab a quick snack,
08:20but potentially expanded its reach through the convenience of a drive-thru.
08:23Additionally, Auntie Anne's drive-thru was combined with a Jamba Juice.
08:26The advantage of this was that, much like a mall food court,
08:29Auntie Anne's could act as a supporting treat without requiring the money and resources to
08:34operate its own freestanding building. Auntie Anne's has always succeeded when in a combined
08:38space, so it was a perfect marriage. Adding a drive-thru location wasn't the
08:43only big change to Auntie Anne's in recent years. The company has worked hard to bring
08:47itself back from the brink of disaster by innovating new markets. During the COVID-19
08:51pandemic, Auntie Anne's started offering make-your-own pretzel kits. This was a smart
08:55way to engage customers who loved pretzels and were at the time desperate for an activity to
08:59do with their children while everyone was cooped up under stay-at-home orders.
09:03Auntie Anne's wasn't about to stop there, though. It began to overhaul its digital presence,
09:07offering online ordering and revamping its point-of-sale system to enter the digital age.
09:12This change ultimately made information tracking easier and allowed the company
09:16to see what changes had worked and what didn't. The company also entered into the food truck game,
09:20offering a new option for franchisees that, once again,
09:23relied on low overhead and bypassed the need for a single freestanding location.
09:27With the addition of food trucks, Auntie Anne's could once again be at the places
09:31where large groups of hungry people gathered, such as a festival or catering for events.
09:35Finally, the company revamped its menu, offering more bite-sized pretzel options,
09:39which are now outselling their traditional full pretzels.
09:43All these revamps really worked in Auntie Anne's favor, as the company now appears
09:47to be going strong. In 2023, Auntie Anne's was ranked 98th on the Franchise Times Ranking of
09:52Franchises, a significant increase from 2022, where it was in the 124th spot.
09:57After adding drive-thrus and expanding offerings, Auntie Anne's saw a massive jump in sales,
10:02which really gave the pretzel chain something to dance about. Auntie Anne's now makes nearly
10:06$800 million in global sales, with more than 2,000 Auntie Anne's locations spanning over
10:1230 countries. Auntie Anne's proved that it can adapt and change with the times without
10:16truly forgetting its roots. It's also gotten savvier at marketing. On National Pretzel Day,
10:21the company often gives away free pretzels, a throwback to when the only marketing it did
10:25was through samples and word of mouth.
10:27"...364 days. Till the next pretzel day."