NEW TWIST IN TOWN
Fri, 2016-07-01 05:00
News Staff
Philly Pretzel Factory set to open
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Military veterans Phil and Mesha Agnello of Belton are opening the doors to the very first Philly Pretzel Factory in Texas, here in Copperas Cove.
The original opening date had been pushed back not once, but twice, this time due to infrastructure delays. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Agnellos have hopes to open the store today. But if not today, pretzel lovers should look for the doors to be open on Tuesday, July 5 at 8 a.m. Regular operating hours will be 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days a week, with possibly later hours to come.
Philly Pretzel Factory is located in a leased retail space at the Copperas Cove H-E-B Plus!, and has its own dedicated entrance.
Phil Agnello is an East Coast native with family in New Jersey and a spring 2015 visit back home found him and Mesha working alongside his cousin Bobby in one of the six Philly Pretzel Factory franchises Bobby owns. That visit prompted Phil and Mesha to contemplate opening a franchise in Texas.
Now cousin Bobby Agnello, also part owner of this franchise, has come all the way from New Jersey and is helping to get his family’s new store off the ground over the next four weeks.
He said part of the delay, in addition to the water line tie-in, came from the fact there’s no gas tie-in for the oven, so the pretzel oven needed to be specially fitted for electric, a process which has taken about six weeks.
The store has a staff of 12, led by Brittany Williams, and will be busily practicing the process of creating the pretzels which are shaped in figure-eights instead of the traditional loops of dough with “arms.”
Williams said before applying for the position, she researched them online and liked what she saw.
Agnello said they are looking forward to jumping right into the community, in addition to selling pretzels with their own special twist.
“We work with the schools locally for fundraisers,” Agnello said.
Agnello also said the store specializes in affordable catering trays that are popular at parties, with a tray of 25 pretzels running $18. “The second you put a pretzel tray out, everyone heads for it.”
All of the pretzels are made fresh daily on site, except for the cheese sticks, Agnello added.
The Agnellos have plans to open a total of 10 Philly Pretzel Factory locations in the next five years. Bobby said they are already looking to open another location in the Fort Hood area for 2016, either Harker Heights or possibly Killeen. That second location will be larger than the Copperas Cove store, which is smaller than the typical Philly Pretzel Factory store.
There are more than 155 Philly Pretzel Factory stores in 12 states. The menu offers traditional Philly style pretzels as well as pretzel twists, mini pretzels, rivets, pretzel dogs and cheese steak pretzels. The stores also sell their own brand of mustard and the pretzels themselves are made from a proprietary blend of flour.
On April 26 each year, the stores given away one free pretzel to every customer on National Pretzel Day.