C-store entrepreneurs and Wetzel’s Pretzels multi-unit franchisees, Ron Reger and Alfred Daher, have opened two locations in eastern Los Angeles County, California, as well as Riverside County. In total, the pair opened three locations in 10 months — all in their existing gas station/convenience stores. The duo is using the brand’s “store-within-a-store” concept to add on to its franchise holdings, a news release said.
“I couldn’t be happier about how this is working out,” said Reger, who has more than 30 years experience in gas station and convenience store ownership. “The Wetzel’s team has created a remarkable model for embedding the brand into our gas station convenience stores, and the support provided to reinforce our operations has been incredible. The team truly cares about helping us succeed,” Reger said in the release.
The recent back-to-back openings in the first half of 2021 were in the City of Industry and Corona in California. The pair also launched a new location in June 2020 in Norco. Reger and Daher are targeting two more store-within-a-store Wetzel’s bakeries, with the first slated to open before the end of the year.
“Our team has always stayed true to an innovation-first mindset, and we knew that Ron and Alfred had the business savvy to be our first convenience store franchisees,” Jon Fischer, Wetzel’s chief development officer said in the release. “We thrive in a grab-and-go landscape, and the growth of Ron and Alfred’s units is a strong start as we grow the new business model.”
Wetzel’s Pretzels has opened eight stores this year and before year’s end said it will add more than 20 more locations. In 2020, Wetzel’s opened 28 new stores and is on track to open more than 30 new locations this year. The investment range for a Wetzel’s bakery is between $180,000 to $480,000, and qualified owners must have a minimum of $100,000 in liquid capital to be considered (or $50,000 for food trucks).
Currently, the Los Angeles-based brand has more than 300 fresh bakeries around the world.
Story originally ran on qsr.com
