The opening is a significant milestone for the world’s leading soft pretzel franchise, which, through its UK&I master franchisee, is executing an ambitious expansion strategy to scale to 100 locations
Auntie Anne’s, the leading soft pretzel and food-to-go franchise in the UK, is excited to announce that its 50th store in the UK and Ireland will open in Eastbourne on Saturday 12 September, marking a significant milestone in the brand’s development plans.
Founded in 1988 from a single stand at a Pennsylvania farmer’s market, Auntie Anne’s has grown into a global brand with over 2,000 locations in 30+ countries. The brand was first introduced to the UK and Ireland in 2008 and has since expanded through franchising to operate kiosks and stores in shopping centres and transport stations in strategically important locations across the region. Over the past five years, the brand has grown at a CAGR of 12%, opening 25 new sites across a variety of formats and today serves more than 2.2 million customers.
Much of the brand’s success has been driven by its focus on freshly rolled ‘treats-to-go’. Each pretzel is made from scratch on site using the brand’s traditional, 30-year-old recipe, which uses simple and natural ingredients. With 77% of UK consumers concerned about over-processed food, Auntie Anne’s range of sweet and savoury treats is increasingly relevant for today’s consumer.
The new Eastbourne store will be located in The Beacons shopping centre, strengthening Auntie Anne’s presence in high-footfall retail destinations and taking the brand to the halfway point of its 100-site ambition.
Auntie Anne’s UK & Ireland has increasingly broadened its estate beyond its traditional shopping centre base as it looks to bring its proposition to more high-footfall locations. Recent openings include Frasers Plus Braehead in Glasgow and Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Dublin, alongside new formats such as its first container location at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. The container concept has since been rolled out to Canterbury Station as the brand explores further opportunities across travel hubs and other non-traditional locations.
This expansion reflects growing demand for Auntie Anne’s freshly made treats-to-go proposition. Each day, teams make dough on site using the brand’s original 30-plus-year-old recipe, before hand-rolling and baking pretzels in front of customers. This combination of freshness, speed and theatre has helped establish Auntie Anne’s as the UK’s leading soft pretzel brand while supporting its growth across a wider range of locations and customer occasions.
Over the coming years, Auntie Anne’s UK & Ireland plans to continue growing across a mix of formats as it works towards 100 locations by 2030. The business is currently progressing a pipeline of new opportunities across the UK and Ireland, including five locations currently under negotiation.
Max Burton, Managing Director, Auntie Anne’s UK&I, said: “Reaching 50 stores is an important milestone for Auntie Anne’s in the UK and Ireland, but we still see significant headroom for the brand. Over the past five years, we have opened 25 new locations and continued to prove that our proposition works across an increasingly broad mix of formats and destinations.
“Our ambition now is to build on that momentum and take Auntie Anne’s into more high-footfall locations across the UK and Ireland. Shopping centres will remain an important part of our estate, but we also see major opportunities across travel hubs, outlet destinations and other non-traditional locations.
“What gives us confidence is the distinctiveness of the proposition. Customers can see our teams making the dough, hand-rolling every pretzel and baking it on site. That combination of freshness, theatre and convenience works particularly well in busy locations, and we believe it gives us a strong platform as we work towards 100 stores by 2030.”
