Pretzel Pretzel, the pretzel shop that earned a devoted following since it debuted in Affton in 2017, will be moving to a new storefront in the former Pizza Hut building on Tesson Ferry Road sometime early next year.
Partners Anthony Simmons and Amber Scurlock operated Pretzel Pretzel’s first location in Affton on Gravois Road until the location closed at the beginning of October, just after they opened a store at 4338 Telegraph Road in Oakville. The Oakville location is successful and will stay open even with the new Tesson Ferry store.
Simmons said they closed the Affton store when its lease was up because, among other issues, the customer base was outgrowing the space.
“Parking and accessibility were an issue there, and we just couldn’t handle the lunch crowds,” Simmons said. “We would get 150 to 175 people a day, and on weekends we could see upwards of 400 to 500 people… We just outgrew that location.”
The new store will be located at 11782 Tesson Ferry Road, in the former Pizza Hut/Wingstop building. Simmons said that they have been looking for an alternative location for the past two years and were always drawn to the Tesson Ferry business corridor because of its proximity to Interstate 270, Lindbergh Boulevard and other businesses like Ronnie’s Cinema and Fitz’s South County.
“We always wanted to be around that area just due to the draw of the highway, Lindbergh, the hospital, cross-through traffic… It’s surrounded by a lot of great businesses,” said Simmons. “We were originally going to be by Hessler’s, but decided to be somewhere with more parking and nostalgia. The former Pizza Hut building is kind of historic.”
The new location will have about 40 parking spots, compared to 11 at the previous Affton location. The new location is also situated at a four-way intersection with a light, which makes is accessible from all different directions.
“The accessibility at that location is tremendous,” said Simmons.
Pretzel Pretzel hopes to open the Tesson Ferry location sometime in February, pending the required permits from St. Louis County. A long-term lease has already been signed on the building, and they are already moving forward with the build-out.
“We’re looking forward to being open in a new location and handling the crowds we weren’t able to handle before. We want to be the Gus’ Pretzels in the county,” said Simmons, referencing another popular pretzel shop located in south St. Louis city. “If you build it, they will come.”
