Rolling in Dough
Do you go with original butter & salt or almond crunch? Decisions, decisions . . .
After six years of owning a slow-growing shoe business in a
shopping mall, Mike Jacobs decided he needed a change. "A
friend of mine opened a Wetzel's Pretzels [in the mall] and
started making all this money," says Jacobs. Inspired by her
success, Jacobs, 44, researched franchise locations in San
Francisco's East Bay area.
Within two years, he had his first Wetzel's Pretzels
franchise at the Stone Ridge Mall in Pleasanton, California, opened
in May of 2000. The following month, he opened a second
location--at the Sun Valley Mall in Concord, California. Jacobs,
who plans to open his third Wetzel's Pretzels store this
October, is delighted with the way business is going. "I'm
probably making three times as much money as I did four years ago,
I don't have to work as much, and I live a much nicer
lifestyle," he explains. "These stores are a lot of fun
to work in. When somebody comes in to buy a pretzel, they're
really happy about it."
The secret to his success? "We try to do it right--to make
sure everyone gets an excellent product and excellent
service," Jacobs says. He believes providing good customer
service means building a great crew. That's exactly what
he's managed to do at his Pleasanton location, where he's
had no turnover in two years. And that service ethic has generated
sales of $1 million.
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