Auntie Anne’s has unveiled a new “future-ready” look designed to take the brand out of malls.
Described as “sleek and modern” by Mike Freeman, president of brands at parent company GoTo Foods, Auntie Anne’s refresh is designed to better cater to Millennials and Gen Z as the brand moves into streetside locations—or really anywhere else franchisees want to take the pretzel-based snack concept.
The modular design is really a “kit of parts,” to give franchisees more flexibility to find the best sites while being “building orientation agnostic,” meaning the format could work in all manner of venues, from airports and arenas, to shopping centers and college campuses, Freeman said.
“What we really wanted to do is a refresh that signals a change for Auntie Anne’s and talks about our commitment to staying relevant in the space, but grounded in our playful nature and craveable core,” said Freeman, who also oversees sister brands Carvel, Cinnabon, McAlister’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky’s within the GoTo Foods portfolio.
The pretzel-rolling process has long been on display, for example, but there wasn’t anything telling guests when that would happen.
The new Auntie Anne’s design, however, features a digital “Now Rolling” sign that lights up when pretzels are being made—similar to the “hot now” signs at Krispy Kreme units where doughnuts are made—which Freeman said will draw guests in to watch the theater of pretzel making.
The new design also places frozen drink machines more front and center, tempting guests with the “rainbow of color” for the various fruit-flavored beverages, he said.
The new units have designated areas for mobile order pickup and third-party delivery, which Freeman said will help eliminate “who’s order is this” confusion.
And Auntie Anne’s sees a huge opportunity with catering.
Auntie Anne's catering spread. | Photos courtesy of GoTo Foods.
“Catering is the biggest revenue channel we’re leaning into to expand,” he said.
The colors are also bolder and the logo more contemporary. The previous halo is gone, and the letter A is more prominent below the twist.
“We’re always driving for an A-plus pretzel,” said Freeman.
A handful of units with the new design have been tested, and showed great results, said Freeman. Now the company expects to see about 150 units remodeled this year, and GoTo Foods is offering incentives for streetside development through the end of 2025, including reduced fees.
GoTo Foods is particularly keen on dual-branded units, which franchisees see as “a real estate play” with double-, triple- and quadruple-brand unit combinations possible between Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Jamba and Cinnabon. As of the end of March, there were more than 65 domestic Auntie Anne’s units that were streetside, co-branded locations.
For all GoTo Foods brands, 353 co-branding deals were signed across 173 locations in 24 states, and about half of those are streetside.
The snacking category is continuing to expand. Last year, Auntie Anne’s domestic sales were up more than 3% to almost $786 million, with 1,221 units open at the end of the year, a nearly 5% increase, according to Technomic’s Top 500 Restaurant Chains.
Auntie Anne’s 2024 average unit volume for domestic units in enclosed malls was $762,534, the company said.
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