The Big Change Everyone Wants Auntie Anne's To Make

Auntie Anne's pretzels, like Cinnabons, seems to be one of those foods you only find at malls and airports. In fact, Auntie Anne's likely has quite a fan base of mall shoppers or stranded travelers that are hungry, but also kind of nauseated by the aggressively cinnamony odor coming from that other chain. The scent of fresh-baked pretzels, on the other hand, is something a bit subtler that only sucks you in as you stroll right by the kiosk. Once you catch a whiff, though, you're doomed ... to the not-so-terrible fate of devouring a heaping helping of delicious, salty carbs.

While nobody but the most dedicated keto dieter can resist the lure of Auntie Anne's once they're within their orbit, not everyone is a frequent flier and fewer and fewer of us are mall shoppers these days. In fact, if we even venture out to the mall at all, it may well be because a craving for Auntie Anne's pretzels is what lures us through the doors. Auntie Anne's does have a few non-mall/airport locations, including food trucks and booths at sports venues such as Bethesda, Maryland's Shirley Povich Field, home of the collegiate league Bethesda Big Train (via Stadium Journey). However, the one thing fans would really like to see, is an Auntie Anne's drive-thru so they can get their pretzel fix on the go.

A Twitter user recently put the following wish out into the universe (or at least the Twitterverse): "Honestly if Auntie Anne's ditched being in malls and started drive-thrus, I would be there every damn day. Who wouldn't love a drive through with hot pretzels??" Most of the comments seemed to indicate a similar enthusiasm for the idea, with the one exception of the person who pointed out, "this is exactly why they should stay at the malls because I don't have the self control." Well, tweet and ye shall receive. As Auntie Annie's promptly replied, "We just opened one in Wylie, TX."

Although details were not forthcoming via Twitter, Restaurant Business had previously published an article announcing this latest addition to Auntie Annie's franchise lineup. The Texas drive-thru won't just offer Auntie Annie's products alone, but will instead be sharing the space with a Jamba Juice. Auntie Anne's has already done similar co-branding deals with Carvel and even Cinnabon, as well as Jamba and they expect to expand their non-mall presence via similar partnerships. While it's not known if further drive-thrus are in the works at present, currently 25% of all Jamba Juice stand-alones have this feature and Jamba Juice is planning to open even more drive-thrus, some of which may well carry Auntie Anne's products. So yes, Aunt Annie's Twitter fans, it seems your pretzel prayers may soon be answered!