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One bite of a fresh, hot, hand-rolled soft pretzel, and RayMcConnell was sold. The salesman had never expected a simpleafternoon excursion to the mall to turn into a major careermove.
In 1992, when his friend Charlie Bauer suggested McConnell gowith him to visit the then-unknown Auntie Anne's franchise inwhich Bauer was thinking about investing, McConnell was more thanskeptical.
"I couldn't see making a living selling pretzels,"recalls McConnell, now 37. But the never-ending line at the pretzelcounter was enough to change his mind. With flavors likeGlazin' Raisin, Parmesan Herb and Cinnamon/Sugar, pretzelsnacking was on the rise. Before he knew it, McConnell and Bauerwere opening their first Auntie Anne's franchise in NewPhiladelphia, Ohio.
"When we first started out, we took over a cinnamon-rollplace," McConnel remembers. "The [former owner] shook hisfinger at me and said, `You're never going to make it justselling pretzels and lemonade.' When I saw him a year later Ihad to shake my finger back at him."
McConnell kept his sales job and helped run the franchise parttime, but three years later, in 1996, he quit his job to devotehimself full time to Auntie Anne's. Now, he and Bauer own sixfranchises, as well as a concession trailer, which they took to theOlympics in 1996. Eventually, McConnell's, Lisa, 33, quit herteaching job to join the Auntie Anne's family.
McConnell credits the company's success to its cleanenvironment, great customer service and variety of fresh pretzels.Whatever he's doing, he must be doing it right--his 1999 salestopped $2.2 million.
His latest venture--a relatively new concept for AuntieAnne's Inc.--involves opening a location inside a Wal-Mart. Andit won't be his last. Says McConnell, "We don't haveany intention of slowing down." Start-up costs for an AuntieAnne's franchise begin at $156,000.
