January 31, 2006

Wetzel’s Pretzels Reports 12 Percent Increase in 2005 Same-Store Sales With Plans To Double Number of Locations Over Three Years

PASADENA, Calif. -- Wetzel’s Pretzels, the pretzel bakery chain renowned for its super-premium hand-rolled soft pretzels, reports that domestic system-wide comparable store sales rose 12 percent in 2005, complementing the company’s strategic plan to double its number of locations over the next three years. The same-store sales figures for December mirrored the yearly gains with an increase of 12 percent versus December 2004. Company leadership attributed current and projected growth to several factors, including the decreased popularity of low-carb diets with the general public and several company initiatives for improved store operations, new, innovative menu offerings and new flagship locations at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Theme parks.

“This strong increase in same store sales is the result of two underlying forces: the ever increasing desire for consumers to eat more healthy snacks as a part of a balanced diet and our efforts to position Wetzel’s Pretzels as the leader of a new ultra-premium segment of the soft pretzel category,” said Bill Phelps, company CEO and co-founder. “Obviously these and other trends are having a significant impact on our business.”

Noting the decrease in consumer popularity with low-carb diets, the National Dairy Panel states that the percentage of Americans on low carb diets peaked at almost 9 percent in January of 2004 but dropped to just over 2 percent of Americans on low-carb diets by December of 2005.

Wetzel’s Growth

With an aggressive growth strategy to double its number of locations over the next three years, the company has begun an extensive series of store openings with a total of 40 slated for 2006.
“These new stores are part of an aggressive expansion plan that has added a dozen new stores in the past few months,” said Phelps. “For 2006, we plan to add another 40 stores and continue our expansion across the country and world. With the addition of these stores, we are clearly the second largest pretzel operator in the country.”

Corporate Profile

Wetzel’s Pretzels LLC is a privately held company operating more than 250 company-owned and franchised locations throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines and Puerto Rico. The brand's commitment to offering unique pretzel flavors with a “30-minute freshness guarantee” has vaulted Wetzel’s Pretzels to become the country's second largest pretzel concept and the unparalleled leader of the ultra-premium soft pretzel category. Operating predominately in enclosed malls and other high traffic venues, Wetzel’s Pretzels competes with other “grab-n-go” snack food like ice cream, cookies, cinnamon rolls and candy.

For further information regarding Wetzel’s Pretzels, please contact Danny Craig of Morgan Marketing & Public Relations LLC at (949) 261-2216, or at: danny@mmpr.biz or visit the company’s website at: www.wetzels.com.