There's no business like dough business
Summary
Planet Money investigates why Wetzel’s Pretzels clusters multiple locations in single venues like the Atlantic Avenue subway station. Hosts Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Alex Goldman explain that pretzels are impulse buys, so high visibility and scent drive sales without significant cannibalization. Franchisee Ricky Alam reveals he owns all three local spots, using one kitchen to serve different commuter flows and offset losses from his main mall store.
Topics discussed
Sponsor message: Capital One VentureX Business Card
Introduction: The mystery of clustered Wetzel's Pretzels
Episode overview: Investigating the pretzel supply chain
Sponsor messages: Grainger, LinkedIn, AHS, Capital One
The impulse product strategy and franchise ownership rules
Sponsor messages: Grainger, LinkedIn, AHS, WISE
Interview with franchisee Ricky Alam on location selection
How the Atlantic Terminal cluster survived the pandemic
Field observation: Confirming sales at the subway station
Conclusion and credits for Planet Money and HyperFixed
Sponsor messages: Capital One and Instacart
Promo for Up First podcast
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