News

Wetzel's Pretzels promotes president to CEO

January 31, 2019

Wetzel's Pretzels said it has promoted its former president, Jennifer Schuler, to CEO. Schuler was in the president's role for about two years and previously served as CMO when she joined the company in 2014, a news release said. She now assumes global responsibility for the brand, which is focusing on growth.

"Jenn is uniquely suited to take over the CEO role at our organization," company co-founder, Bill Phelps, said in the release. "Since joining Wetzel's Pretzels as CMO in 2014, she has combined her marketing and operations experience with global brands to drive same-store sales, profitability for our franchise partners and further growth for the brand domestically and abroad." 

Phelps will remain involved with the company as a board member and shareholder, the release said. The company said as president, Schuler has led the brand to a  2.8 percent comparable same-store sales increase and $175 million in system-wide sales.

 "By leveraging our category-leading economics, operational simplicity and unmatched unit flexibility, we're well-positioned to track toward our goal of 500 locations by 2021," Schuler said in the release.

Last year, Schuler also became a Wetzel's Pretzels franchisee. Along with a recently-opened kiosk, she now owns and operates two locations at the Mall of America. Today the brand has 350 stores worldwide.