Auntie Anne's, Jamba Open Co-Brand Location with Drive-Thru
Focus Brands, the parent company of 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.
Auntie Anne's first 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. The brand is among those that is optimizing its drive-thru and planning new store designs and new technology to improve CX.
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.