Auntie Anne's Opens First Ever Drive-Thru with Jamba at Co-Brand Location in Dallas Suburb

By: Auntie Anne's | 0 Shares 300 Reads

Beloved pretzel brand focuses on consumer accessibility with new location

ATLANTA, May 17, 2021 // PRNewswire // - Focus Brands, the parent company of iconic brands Auntie Anne's, Jamba, Cinnabon, Carvel, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli and Schlotzsky's, announces the new opening of a Jamba and Auntie Anne's co-brand location, featuring the first Auntie Anne's drive-thru in brand history. The location in Wylie, Texas is owned and operated by franchise industry veterans, Shawn and Crystal Bowling.

The arrival of Auntie Anne's first-ever drive-thru location is a significant step in the brand's commitment to move to real estate beyond the traditional mall location and is a direct response to consumer desire for greater brand accessibility. Strategically paired together in a co-brand location, Jamba's menu complements the fan-favorite pretzels and snacks offered at Auntie Anne's. Elements of both brands, including design and menu boards, will be fully and seamlessly integrated at the newest 1,200 square foot location.

"Consumer research shows that our guests want access to Auntie Anne's outside of the mall. While we were already underway with identifying ways to enhance our brands' accessibility, the study results confirmed our strategy to co-brand this location with Jamba," said Brian Krause, Chief Development Officer of Focus Brands. "Considering how the pandemic has changed consumer preferences, we recognize the importance of building our off-premise offerings and evolving our development capabilities to provide franchisees with additional opportunities, including co-brand locations that have potential for enhanced revenue. We're pleased to have an excited franchisee on-board to open the Wylie Jamba and Auntie Anne's co-brand location and look forward to adding more to our pipeline."

Currently, more than a quarter of Jamba's locations have a drive-thru and the brand is aggressively looking to add drive-thrus to 50 percent of new locations. Auntie Anne's continues to explore locations out of the mall, including drive-thru locations, co-brand locations, locations near colleges and universities as well as mobile food trucks. In addition, further acknowledging the power of co-brand locations, Jamba is already receiving interest from franchisees looking to add Auntie Anne's to their existing stores.

"Auntie Anne's has become synonymous with malls and airports, but for some time we've been looking for opportunities to grow outside of those traditional locations to give our guests greater access to a brand they love," said Kristen Hartman, Specialty Category President of Focus Brands. "Today, we have a number of Auntie Anne's streetside locations paired with Cinnabon and Carvel. The opportunities that become available when we leverage the power of our full portfolio are endless. I'm incredibly excited to see that through co-branding we are able to add the drive-thru experience to the Auntie Anne's portfolio and can't wait to see how guests respond to this enhanced accessibility."

SOURCE Auntie Anne's; Jamba

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