Auntie Anne’s is set to open five new stores in the last two months of 2012, as part of its national franchise expansion strategy. These new stores will be located in Uxbridge, Glasgow, Birmingham, Gloucester, and Southampton. Three of these stores will be launched by new franchise owners, while the Uxbridge and Birmingham locations will be operated by existing franchise owners, opening their third locations.
Each Auntie Anne’s franchise store sells a range of sweet and savoury freshly baked pretzels, as well as a selection of hot and cold drinks.
Commenting on why the demand of Auntie Anne’s franchises and products are increasing, Robert Burton, Managing Director of Auntie Anne’s UK, said: “Our franchises are becoming more popular as more and more people are trying the product and then wanting to open a store themselves.
“Auntie Anne’s is an internationally recognised brand and there are 1,300 stores worldwide. In fact, four of our franchise owners originally tried the product in the United States and then came back to the UK wanting to open an Auntie Anne’s franchise.
“Consumers-wise, customers are buying from us because it is a great product. We get lots of repeat business and with schemes like our Loyalty Cards, customers are frequently returning.”
The opening of these five new stores will take the number of Auntie Anne’s franchises in the UK from 22 to 27. By the end of 2014, Auntie Anne’s aims to have 55 to 60 franchise stores trading across Britain. Burton explained: “By the end of 2013 we are aiming to open 12 new locations. Half of these will be new franchise owners and half will be existing franchise owners opening their second or third stores.
“By the end of 2014 we are planning to open 18 new locations, again with a 50/50 split between new franchise owners and existing franchise owners opening their second, third and hopefully even fourth locations.”
In order to support these new franchise owners, Auntie Anne’s has a thorough support system in place that will help franchise owners in every part of their business from finding a location to IT support systems once the store is trading.
Although Auntie Anne’s is looking to open locations in shopping centres throughout the UK, it is particularly keen to target the London area.
Published: 27 November 2012
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