Randy Labosco began as a single-unit Auntie Anne’s franchisee at a Florida mall 30 years in the past. In the present day, the “Pretzel King of DFW” operates seven Auntie Anne’s throughout Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport (DFW), the third-busiest airport on the earth — and he is not achieved but. With plans to increase to as many as 15 whole shops, together with future Cinnabon and Jamba items, he is turn into one of the crucial skilled and profitable nontraditional franchise operators within the nation.
“It is walkaway meals,” Labosco tells Entrepreneur. “You’ll be able to pull a suitcase, carry a pretzel and never offend anybody sitting subsequent to you on a aircraft. And most prospects already know what they need, so we serve them in below a minute.”
That pace — together with consistency, location technique and a deeply loyal workforce — has made Labosco a mannequin franchisee for Auntie Anne’s nontraditional playbook. His journey is proof of a bigger development: Manufacturers that grasp nontraditional venues like airports are discovering highly effective, scalable progress the place others cannot.
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“Constructed for pace”
Labosco’s success is an element of a bigger development: Auntie Anne’s (#87 on the 2025 Franchise 500) outside-the-box technique. Nontraditional franchising refers back to the growth of a franchise model into places outdoors the everyday storefront mannequin. As a substitute of working in normal retail areas like procuring facilities or strip malls, nontraditional franchises are positioned in high-traffic, usually captive environments, similar to airports, journey plazas and relaxation stops, school campuses, stadiums and amusement parks.
These venues usually supply smaller footprints, larger foot site visitors and distinctive operational challenges (similar to restricted storage, safety protocols or quick turnover necessities). The aim of nontraditional franchising is to fulfill prospects the place they already are — capturing impulse purchases and maximizing model publicity in areas that demand pace, portability and consistency.
In 2025 alone, the model has already signed 13 new nontraditional agreements. In response to mother or father firm GoTo Meals’ chief improvement officer Bobby Morena, “Auntie Anne’s is constructed for pace — and pace is king in high-volume areas.”
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Why airports work
To grasp why Auntie Anne’s is flourishing in airports, simply image the typical traveler: hungry, rushed and in search of one thing quick, acquainted and moveable. “The model is completely fitted to high-throughput environments like airports, transit hubs and arenas,” Morena says, “locations the place prospects haven’t got time to browse however nonetheless need one thing sizzling and satisfying.”
Auntie Anne’s compact format and immediately recognizable merchandise make it a perfect match for these high-velocity settings. Most airport company already know what they need, which helps preserve strains shifting. Plus, the model’s “aroma-forward” mannequin is a strategic benefit: Vacationers usually odor Auntie Anne’s earlier than they see it, and the scent of fresh-baked pretzels pulls them in.
For franchisees like Labosco, these benefits are backed by information. His airport places persistently outperform conventional mall shops, not simply in quantity however in gross sales per sq. foot. And due to Auntie Anne’s operational effectivity, even one point-of-sale terminal can generate thousands and thousands in income. “Our airport shops do about 70% extra in gross sales than conventional,” Labosco says. “We’ve got one which’s 330 sq. ft with one point-of-sale, and it is our busiest retailer — it did over $2.2 million final 12 months. It is very fast-paced and has perhaps 12 ft of frontage. It is superb how a lot we will do per sq. foot in gross sales in comparison with a lot greater places.”
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Operational playbook
However as Morena notes, success in an airport is not nearly foot site visitors. “Airports aren’t simple,” he says. “There are strict safety protocols, restricted storage and stress to serve persistently in any respect hours. It takes a succesful operator to thrive.” That is the place Auntie Anne’s assist infrastructure — and the expertise of franchisees like Labosco — turns into vital. GoTo Meals supplies an airport-specific operations playbook, together with tailor-made assist to assist franchisees navigate the whole lot from compliance and development to staffing and scheduling.
“Our workforce is concerned from the beginning,” Morena says. “We assist determine the proper terminal places, deal with design and allowing and even development. Not each location inside an airport is created equal — we would like our shops positioned for max visibility and move.”
Franchisees additionally acquire entry to shared companies throughout GoTo Meals’ portfolio, together with provide chain administration, coaching, IT and advertising. And in 2025, that assist consists of one thing extremely seen: a full visible model refresh. As a part of a broader model modernization, Auntie Anne’s is transforming greater than 150 places this 12 months — together with one in all Labosco’s DFW items. The up to date look incorporates a halo-free pretzel emblem, daring new colour palette, modular development, open kitchen design, digital menu boards and a devoted cell pickup zone.
“It is a gorgeous new look,” Morena says. “It retains us related — and once you’re in an airport serving thousands and thousands of vacationers a 12 months, that issues.”
Labosco agrees. “The assist at the moment is evening and day from once I began 30 years in the past,” he says. “Now we have got design, development, IT and ops working collectively from day one. It makes progress quite a bit smoother.”
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Wanting forward
With air journey on the rise and vacationers spending extra time — and cash — inside terminals, Auntie Anne’s sees nontraditional venues not as a aspect technique, however as the way forward for its model. “We’re assembly company the place they’re,” Morena says. “As a rule, that is in movement — in airports, stadiums, campuses and transit hubs.”
The model’s daring new retailer design is constructed to assist that progress. And with operators like Labosco main the way in which, Auntie Anne’s has proof that the mannequin works in tight areas and below stress. Labosco, for his half, is simply getting began. “My aim is 12 to fifteen whole shops at DFW,” he says.
As Auntie Anne’s continues to evolve past the mall meals court docket, one factor is obvious: The way forward for franchising could look a little bit completely different — and it would simply odor like pretzels.
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Randy Labosco began as a single-unit Auntie Anne’s franchisee at a Florida mall 30 years in the past. In the present day, the “Pretzel King of DFW” operates seven Auntie Anne’s throughout Dallas Fort Price Worldwide Airport (DFW), the third-busiest airport on the earth — and he is not achieved but. With plans to increase to as many as 15 whole shops, together with future Cinnabon and Jamba items, he is turn into one of the crucial skilled and profitable nontraditional franchise operators within the nation.
“It is walkaway meals,” Labosco tells Entrepreneur. “You’ll be able to pull a suitcase, carry a pretzel and never offend anybody sitting subsequent to you on a aircraft. And most prospects already know what they need, so we serve them in below a minute.”
That pace — together with consistency, location technique and a deeply loyal workforce — has made Labosco a mannequin franchisee for Auntie Anne’s nontraditional playbook. His journey is proof of a bigger development: Manufacturers that grasp nontraditional venues like airports are discovering highly effective, scalable progress the place others cannot.
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