Wetzel's Pretzels

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Wetzel's Pretzels
Fast food franchise
Industry Restaurants
Founded Redondo Beach, California, (1994)
Headquarters Pasadena, California, United States
Number of locations
 175+
Products Pretzels
Parent Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Website wetzels.com

Wetzel's Pretzels is a Pasadena, California-based franchise of fast-food restaurants. The first Wetzel's Pretzels location opened in 1994 at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach, California. Currently, Wetzel's Pretzels has almost 300 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, India,[1] Philippines, Lebanon, and the Middle East.[2]

History

In 1994, Rick Wetzel and Bill Phelps were working in marketing at Nestle USA. On a business trip to Seattle, the colleagues, though not friends at the time, started kicking around the idea of pretzels as a new snack-food business. An eavesdropping stranger told them soft fresh-baked bread pretzels were really tasty. The pair got excited and started mapping out a business plan that night at a bar. They wrestled with finding a name that could be trademarked. Everything Phelps wanted had already been taken. Wetzel, who had been teased in the schoolyard with "Hey Wetzel, you pretzel," kept his mouth shut. A friend who was a marketing consultant finally pointed out the obvious for a name. The chain expanded quickly, and in 1997 Hollywood movie producer John Davis came in with $1 million raised from angel investors. Only after opening a company-owned flagship store at Disneyland in 2001 did the pair realize they had made it. "It was one of the top retailers in all of Downtown Disney per square foot," Phelps said.[3]

In 1996 Wetzel's began franchising their brand, and now has a co-braning relationship with Cold Stone Creamery, Juice It Up, Swensen's and more.[4]

Investors

Los Angeles private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Inc. bought a majority stake in the company in 2007 for an undisclosed amount. Phelps still owns a 20% share, while Wetzel holds a smaller stake.[5][6]

Philanthropy

Wetzel's Pretzels, along with Rick Caruso of Caruso Affiliated, each donate $7,500 to the Beyond the Bell program of the Los Angeles Unified School District.[7]

Locations

As of the end of 2015 Wetzel's franchise fast food restaurants had 269 US locations; 2 in Canada; 19 worldwide; and 8 owned by the company for a total of 298.[2]

Products

Foods

  • Pretzels, consisting of several different flavors.
  • Wetzel dogs, hot dogs with pretzel bread for buns.
  • Wetzel Bitz, bite-size pretzel bits sold in a cardboard container.

Beverages

  • Frozen Lemonade, sold in a variety of flavors.
  • Frozen Granita, a frozen version of the Italian dessert.[8]

References

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


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