When Bob and Caryl Browner served their homemade pretzels at parties, guests would say they should start a business. There could be dough in this dough, so they began selling homemade pretzels to restaurants and food truck operators.
Finally, the Browners took the plunge, sold their house in Cary, N.C., moved to Pawleys Island and opened ElJay Pretzels in the Litchfield Exchange. After some early research and development, the couple’s pretzel bakery is positioned for growth. Lowes Foods is selling the Browners’ pretzels in 13 stores along the Carolina coast, and two of their products will be sold at Coastal Carolina University football games starting Sept. 10.
ElJay Pretzels — the business is named for the Browner children Lauren and Josh — has outgrown two kitchens already and moved into a well-equipped 20,000 square foot space in the Litchfield Exchange. Caryl said she started making pretzels as a three-month experiment in the kitchen at her church, Pawleys Island Community Church, even though Bob is the baker in the family. They found a niche in upscale golf course grill rooms like Caledonia and Wachesaw East and restaurant bars like Ship’s Pub and Southern Comforts. With that encouragement, the Browners moved into a small space at Litchfield Exchange while Bob kept his job at the Fresh Market bakery. When StartUp.SC, the county’s business incubator, moved to a smaller space across the hall, the Browners’ pretzel business was ready for a much larger and more visible location with commercial equipment and moved up front in the exchange. They remain strictly wholesale and have to turn prospective retail customers away from their kitchen with directions to Lowes Foods down the road.
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