Auntie Anne's’ Post

This makes sense to me -- a #smallstore concept aimed at urban dwellers (read: peeps who have money spend and what to drop it on fresh-squeezed juices, etc.) starting in NYC. First, sounds like they (#wholefoodsmarket) have a focus on their target customers; second, this allows them to penetrate markets where retail space is VERY expensive; third, as they have store base to start, they can leverage existing supply chains to be efficient (looking at you #foxtrot). But, it's not really a #grocerystore or should I say a traditional grocery store. It's what grocery seems to be almost inevitably evolving toward -- smaller footprint, highly specialized, highly efficient outlets that work for a (or many) specific markets. Does this work in Williamsburg, IA? Or even San Angelo, TX? Or the 'burbs of Chicago? Probably not. I hope that #WFM doesn't forget that lesson as they roll these out.

Bravo to TCE client, Twisted by Wetzel's Pretzels, LLC, who recognized that shifting consumer habits, particularly among Gen Z and millennials, have sparked a seismic change in the snack food landscape. With a growing preference for smaller, more frequent eating occasions, snacks are now vying for a larger slice of the consumer pie - and Twisted by Wetzel's is there to eat it up. Having launched their third street side location, the brand is proving that this category doesn't just belong in the mall. #design #foodandbeverage #innovation #futureoffood #foodinnovation #foodindustry #designthinking #tastemaker #culinary #foodleadership #productevolution #culinaryinnovation #menuevolution #snackcategory

Why Invest in Sally’s A’pizza? 1. Iconic Brand with a Storied History: Sally’s Apizza is not just another pizza chain; it’s a legend in the pizza world. Founded in 1938 in New Haven, Connecticut, Sally’s has become a household name among pizza lovers, including celebrities and cultural icons like Frank Sinatra and Gwyneth Paltrow. With nearly a century of brand equity, Sally’s has cultivated a loyal following that provides a strong foundation for growth. 2. Proven Financial Performance: Sally’s has demonstrated exceptional growth in recent years, with Average Unit Volumes (AUVs) of $3.85 million in 2023, more than triple the industry average for pizza restaurants. This strong performance is indicative of its scalability and potential for significant returns as it expands nationally. 3. Massive Market Opportunity: The U.S. pizza market is valued at $60 billion, and Sally’s Apizza is positioned to disrupt the craft-casual dining space. While other chains compete on price and speed, Sally’s combines premium-quality pizza, elevated interiors, and experiential dining—filling a niche that few others can match. With plans to expand across the Northeast and into key U.S. markets like New York and Florida, Sally’s is poised to capitalize on this growing sector. 4. Strategic Expansion and Growth Potential: Sally’s isn’t just about one or two locations. With the funds from this IPO, the company is aiming to expand to over 1,000 locations nationwide. The brand has already secured key real estate partnerships and prime locations with major developers like Brookfield Properties and Invesco, ensuring its growth plan is both ambitious and achievable. 5. Experienced Leadership and Strategic Partnerships: The team behind Sally’s includes industry veterans from leading brands like Shake Shack and Buffalo Wild Wings. Additionally, the company has partnered with top-tier engineering firms to streamline its operations, ensuring that each new location maintains the same high quality and customer experience that made Sally’s famous. 6. Cultural and Media Appeal: Sally’s has a strong presence in both the pizza community and mainstream culture, with media coverage from outlets like The Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, and a top-ranking review from Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports Pizza Reviews. This level of visibility, combined with its heritage, ensures that Sally’s continues to attract both loyal customers and curious new diners. Why Now? The timing of the IPO is key. With the momentum of its recent expansion and the increasing popularity of craft-casual dining, Sally’s is positioned to rapidly scale in untapped markets. By investing in Sally’s now, you’re getting in at the ground floor of a proven concept ready for national expansion—a rare opportunity in the food industry.

Out-of-home collabs are a winning recipe! 🍔🍯 Last week, Grey Poupon teamed up with the award-winning Dannys Burger’s for another mouthwatering "Danny's x Grey Poupon Collab" 🥇. This is our second collab together and is a great reminder of how retail brands and out-of-home establishments can join forces to create something unforgettable for customers. Here’s why partnerships like this work so well: ✅ Brand Visibility & Engagement: For us, teaming up with Danny’s not only shows off the versatility of mustard but also introduces it to new fans in a fresh, memorable way. ✅ Experience > Just Product: Today, people want experiences, not just a product. Getting to try Grey Poupon on a custom Danny’s burger makes the mustard memorable beyond the store shelf. ✅ Organic Fit: When the collaboration feels natural, like with Grey Poupon and Danny’s, it enhances both brands—people get a taste of luxury in a banging smash burger! And let’s be honest… testing out these collabs is definitely a great perk!! 😋 Big thanks to Dannys Burger for bringing this to life and being such fun to work with. If you're in need of recommendations for burgers in Bristol then look no further! 💬 What are some of your favourite recent brand collabs? #BrandCollaboration #RetailMarketing #GreyPoupon #DannysBurgers #FoodieFinds #ExperientialMarketing #ConsumerExperience

Calling all convenience stores, c-stores, corner stores, mini-marts, mom and pops, neighborhood markets, bodegas, mini-marts, trading posts and truck stops! 😀📢 You now have streamlined access to the most exciting emerging brands on the market, including Bon Bee™ Honey Bars, through McLane Company, Inc.'s Emerging Brand Marketplace powered by Mable! Give your shoppers something to get excited about... something that... **TASTES OUT OF THIS WORLD** made by a... **Small Veteran-Owned, Woman-Owned Family Business** with only... **All-Natural, Simple Ingredients** that are... **Gluten Free, Grain Free, Soy Free** Introducing Bon Bee Gourmet Honey Bars on McLane Marketplace! How it works 😎 Visit McLane Marketplace and shop specially curated emerging brands such as Bon Bee that will boost your assortment and excite your customers (link in comments). 🍫 Try before you buy! Request samples in advance from the McLane Marketplace. 😋 Or skip the sample and order up! You can't go wrong with Bon Bee! (UINs: 713517, 798337, 713527, 798327) 💲Order minimums are low allowing you to test quickly and affordably reducing any risk in trying something new. 🚚 Orders are drop shipped directly to your store from Bon Bee arriving in 3-5 business days. 🛒 Love Bon Bee and want to order more? No problem! Simply add Bon Bee Gourmet Honey Bars to your order guide with the push of a button. Then when it's time to restock, simply order Bon Bee with your other McLane items using your Smart Handheld or EDI. Payments are processed in the same manner as your other McLane orders. 🏃♂️🏃♀️ Don't get left behind... we've already processed over 500 orders in a few short months and landed planogram placement in multiple chains. Any questions? Be sure to reach out to your McLane Rep. Brands interested in joining? Check out the email in the comments. Coming to #McLaneEngage2024? Find us in the Emerging Brands section and meet the folks behind the brand featured on Shark Tank ABC! Easy Peasy *Honey* Squeezy... 🍯 #veteranowned #womanowned #familybusiness #emergingbrand #mclane #mable #dropshipping #cpg #conveniencestore #cstore #sharktankproduct

Smashburger was founded in 2007 by Rick Schaden and Tom Ryan and took its name from the evocatively dubbed technique and has more than 200 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The chain serves "smashed" burgers using a specialized process of cooking them on a flattop grill at a high heat. This technique originated in the Great Lakes region at pressed-chuck burger restaurants and has been a staple there for decades. Thomas Parthar believes the fast-casual chain lost its way a bit after adjustments made during the pandemic. The company also strayed from its core value proposition of being "burger experts" by letting its menu grow too much. “Our brand wasn’t well known,” Prather said. “We’d have 20 different logos out in the marketplace, so even if you liked Smashburger, you didn’t know if it was a mom-and-pop or if it was a chain.” This rebrand seems like it is to reset Smashburger with a focus on growth. A strong visual identity and a focused menu are both crucial for success in the competitive fast-casual restaurant space. The style of the rebrand is bold and contemporary, with a simple palette of dark orange and burgundy complemented by cream and black. For the logo, the base of the “S” stands in for the weight of the smasher, and it sits on a stylized version of an irregular circle to represent the patty that allows the chain to show up in “arresting and disruptive” ways. Prather found the rebrand simultaneously “exhilarating and terrifying.” What do you think about Smashburger's rebrand? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Smashburger's rebranding efforts in the comments below. #rebranding #smashburger #digitalmarketing #dawndigitrix

NonAlc Bottle Shop profitability is HARD! But not impossible. Boisson filing for Chapter 11 isn't indicative of the interest, demand, and excitement of this new, booming market 🚀 Neilsen Company shows Off Premise up +31.2% vs a year prior (Aug 2023 report). I think the potential market is the majority of the population, who want a good drink. My real-world experience comes from operating a Non-Alcoholic Bar + Bottle Shop for 3.5 years in a tourist destination: Ocean Beach. In a major city: San Francisco. I have more revenue with NONALC products than FOOD. (And I sell a LOT of delicious sandwiches and vegan avocado wraps!) I include the 90 min. NA Mixology Classes and 60 min. Temperance Tastings by reservation in this figure. I intentionally named it Ocean Beach Cafe. The margins, and what really brings the masses in, are the food and the coffee. (You should see my Google Analytics) But everyday, multiple times a day, people come from far and and wide to experience what we've curate. And we've had over 70 articles written about us because of the 100% NonAlc focus, which you don't really get for just being a friendly, community beachside cafe with a total vibe. If I had named it, lets say: "Niche NonAlc Bar," I would probably have only a third of the revenue. I'm not in the best location for a NA Bar + Bottle Shop. But, it was a great deal during COVID in 2020 that I couldn’t pass up. And when you're the only shop in town with the most relevant topic in F&B and deliver it with radical hospitality, people will come! I’ve seen several shops open after me and close before me. It breaks my heart 💔 I have a GREAT interest in helping folks have the best chance of success in this industry. 💪🏼 Taking on an F&B Brick + Mortar is the HARDEST thing you could do. Society's interest in having social spaces that are NonAlc focused is MASSIVE. I envision a time when these social spaces exist in multiple places within a city and are dotted all across the country. When desirable, adult Non-Alcoholic options on menus are ubiquitous. It's all happening; I just want it to move along even quicker and am here to help with that. 🌊 John deBary, epic article, thanks for creating it! https://lnkd.in/gaQF6tvJ #nonalcoholic #nonalcoholicbar #nabottleshop

Foxtrot Market Chicago, where the first Foxtrot Market opened in 2014. Stocked with coffee, prepared specialty foods, and beverages, its locations have become hangouts for locals on laptops. It’s become so popular — and successful — that Foxtrot has expanded to Dallas, Austin, and Washington D.C., and it recently acquired a small fresh food-focused Chicago chain called Dom’s Kitchen & Market shopping experience Convenience-Style Grocery Stores Here’s Why Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s Are Opening Convenience-Style Grocery Stores-- already happened in Chicago, where the first Foxtrot Market opened in 2014. Stocked with coffee, prepared specialty foods, and beverages, its locations have become hangouts for locals on laptops. It’s become so popular — and successful — that Foxtrot has expanded to Dallas, Austin, and Washington D.C., and it recently acquired a small fresh food-focused Chicago chain called Dom’s Kitchen & Market :  Trader Joe’s has started to test out a new concept: It recently opened Trader Joe’s Pronto — a 2,800-square-foot grab-and-go store that offers affordable ready-to-eat options such as sandwiches, salads, and snacks-- Whole Foods closer to existing customers, while extending the company’s reach to others in surrounding neighborhoods” Whole Foods Market Daily Shop : stores can tailor their merchandise to neighborhood demographics : small spaces encourage community engagement by including espresso bars, providing indoor and outdoor seating, and hosting events : smaller shops mean more customers per square foot, a key factor in big cities where rents can be astonishingly high

Sometimes when I walk down the natural and organic aisle in a large grocery store I’m struck by how much it can feel like an aisle of misfit toys. The shelves are often jammed so tightly together that product is smashed down or hidden, making the brands nearly impossible to recognize. The random application of metal railings (bars) dominate the visual experience, making those products look / feel trapped and unapproachable. Imprisoned—is that a trade spend add-on? Obviously there’s the perception that this is “the fancy aisle” or “the intimidating aisle.” For a shopper new to the aisle I suspect they could easily feel overwhelmed and isolated as everything is expensive and surrounded by unfamiliar foodstuff. Why are these fantastic, healthier alternatives banished to a separate aisle instead of integrated into their product categories? I’m sure there’s very good reasons for this, there’s obviously mountains of data (or listing fee bullies) to make my rant irrelevant. But I can’t help but wonder if this aisle reinforces the idea that these products are “other” or niche or experimental instead of thoughtfully made alternatives. This isn’t just about aesthetics or merchandising—it’s about access, perception, and a sense of belonging. If we want these options to thrive they need the chance to be seen and to compete on equal footing. #naturalandorganic #foodforthought #consumerexperience #foodmarketing #cpgindustry #cpgbrands #grocerystore #merchandising #groceryshopping

We've all likely experienced our favorite food or beverage items "evolving" over the years. Rather it be different packaging, different ingredients which lead to different tastes, or even the item being discontinued. With so many big corporate takeovers of smaller brands and their endless quest to drive profits, this is all too commonplace in the #foodandbeverage space. Here's a feel-good story about someone who liked a brand so much, he decided to buy it and bring it back to life, and has seen success in doing so. #snacks #cpg #candy #confectionery #3pls #logistics #warehousing