Auntie Anne's is an American franchised chain of

pretzel A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

shops founded by

Anne F. Beiler Anne F. Beiler is an American businesswoman and founder of Auntie Anne's pretzels. Early life Beiler was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, one of eight children born into an Old Order Amish family, on January 16, 1949. When she was thre ...

and her husband, Jonas, in 1988. Auntie Anne's serves products such as pretzels, dips, and beverages. They also offer Pretzels & More Homemade Baking Mix for those who want to make their pretzels at home. The chain has more than 1,200 locations around various locations, such as in

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s and outlet malls, as well as non-traditional retail spaces including universities, parking/rest areas, airports, train stations, travel plazas,

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s, and military bases. Their slogan as of 2010 is "Pretzel Perfect".

History

The chain started as a market stand in the

Downingtown, Pennsylvania Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,898. Downingtown was settled by European colonists in the early 18th century and has a number of historic buildings an ...

, Farmer's Market in 1988. The franchise began when a store location opened at Saturday's Market in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Auntie Anne's celebrated their 100th store opening in

Granite Run Mall Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

, in 1992. In 1995, the first train station location opened at

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. This year also brought the opening of the first international Auntie Anne's store in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. In October 2006, it was announced that the Auntie Anne's corporate headquarters would be relocated from the town of

Gap, Pennsylvania Gap is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 17527. The population was 1,931 at the 2010 census. U.S. Route 30 passes through the to ...

, to downtown Lancaster. The former site of the Lancaster Post Office was purchased and given minor renovations for about $7 million by Auntie Anne's, Inc. Constructed in 1927, the three-story building stands on about . The building maintains the original 1920s features such as brass doors, high ceilings, and skylights. The Lancaster Post Office was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982. In November 2010, Atlanta franchisor

Focus Brands Focus Brands is an American company that is an affiliate of the American private equity firm Roark Capital Group that currently owns the Schlotzsky's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, Auntie Anne's and Jamba brands. ...

, a portfolio company of

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

Roark Capital, acquired Auntie Anne's. William P. Dunn Jr. was the company's president and its chief operating officer from 2013 to 2015. Heather Leed Neary became the company's president in 2015.

International locations

Auntie Anne's now has over 600 international locations, including many across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, namely the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Locations in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

include

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, while in the Americas there are sites in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. There are plans to start stores in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In overseas markets, the restaurants have made significant alterations to coexist with local sensibilities, including changing recipes to conform to

halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...

Community service and charitable activity

From 1999 through 2009, Auntie Anne's and its franchisees partnered to donate more than $4.5 million to local children's hospitals across the country through the

Children's Miracle Network Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals) (French: Réseau Enfants-Santé (RES)) is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. Donations support the health of 10 million children each ...

. Auntie Anne's has also supported the pediatric cancer charity Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation since 2011. Auntie Anne's began a partnership with

Food Donation Connection Food Donation Connection (FDC), LLC is a privately owned American company that serves as the liaison between restaurants/food service companies interested in donating surplus food, and local social service agencies that distribute food to people ...

in 2011, matching stores throughout the country with local hunger relief organizations to donate extra pretzel products. In 2013, Anne and Auntie Anne's was featured in the

reality TV series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Food Court Wars''. Auntie Anne's founder Anne Beiler appeared in the 2013 season premier of the television show ''

The Secret Millionaire ''The Secret Millionaire'' is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds (or tens of thousands of dollars in the US and ...

'' in which she masqueraded as a volunteer at the Baltimore-based food non-profit organization

Moveable Feast A moveable feast is an observance in a Christian liturgical calendar which occurs on different dates in different years.John Ayto ''Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms'' 2010 p123 019954378X "a movable feast an event which takes place at no reg ...

. She also made a donation to the charity. File:Auntie Anne's fountain, Tanger Outlets Savannah.jpg, Auntie Anne's at the

Tanger Outlets Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. ( ) is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that invests in shopping centers containing outlet stores in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2019, the comp ...

shopping center in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

File:Auntie Anne's,Trinity Irish Pub and Mother Machree's Strudel - panoramio.jpg, Auntie Anne's at the Milwaukee Irish Fest,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

File:Angola Travel Plaza-07.jpg, Auntie Anne's at the

New York State Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

Angola Travel Plaza,

Angola, New York Angola is a village in the town of Evans in Erie County, New York, United States. Located east of Lake Erie, the village is southwest of downtown Buffalo. As of the 2010 Census, Angola had a population of 2,127. An unincorporated community kn ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Corporate History of Auntie Anne's

Auntie Anne's Official UK and Ireland website
{{Authority control 1988 establishments in Pennsylvania 2010 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1988 Bakeries of the United States Companies based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Culture of Lancaster, Pennsylvania Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Pretzels Privately held companies based in Pennsylvania Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1988

History

International locations

Community service and charitable activity

See also

References

External links