Pretzel Pretzel is a St. Louis business that has recently seen substantial growth, with franchises popping up in O’Fallon, Edwardsville and, just a month ago, Waterloo.

Melissa Villeda, who owns the Waterloo location alongside her husband Jose, offered some insight into how she and her family wound up getting the franchise set up.

Though originally from Dupo, her family roots stretch back to Waterloo, and just a few years ago, her and her husband moved to town with their five children.

Setting up the Pretzel Pretzel franchise is the couple’s first foray into business ownership. Jose works as a roofer, and Melissa worked at Washington University for a cardiologist before turning to real estate to have more time with family.

Though she continues to work in real estate, Melissa has taken the lead at the Waterloo Pretzel Pretzel and is keeping the store going along with two of her older kids and a staff of 10.

She explained that the decision to start up a local Pretzel Pretzel came rather naturally.

“The main reason I wanted to start the pretzel shop is because I have been a client of the surrounding Pretzel Pretzels for years and just always thought it would be fun to own my own,” Melissa said, “so when the owners of the entire company started franchising I knew I had to be involved and knew Waterloo was the perfect location.”

Since its grand opening on July 16, the business has seen a solid response from the community. Melissa noted an exceptional turnout when it first opened, posting on Facebook then that “the line never stopped until we locked the doors.”

Some adjustments to the shop’s hours did have to be made very early on as slight staffing difficulties forced it to start closing at 4 p.m. rather than 6.

“We had a great turnout opening day and the week following did great as well, but we realized we were very understaffed, so we had to change our hours,” Melissa said.

Melissa further noted the reception among the community has been positive, with plenty of happy customers leaving to enjoy their warm pretzels.

There have, however, been a few complaints from a handful of customers who have been disappointed with cold cheese or a cold pretzel.

Melissa asked that folks who aren’t fully satisfied with their service try to get any issues addressed within the store.

“If there is an issue, please bring it to our attention while in-store so that we can fix the issue or give a refund,” Melissa said. “Please don’t just go on social media and bash a small business without giving us the opportunity to fix it. All we ask for is a little grace while we are working through the hurdles of a new business.”

She also expressed that given the nature of the business, items in the case are constantly being removed and replaced to make sure food stays warm and fresh, so there might be times where guests will have to wait a moment for items as they are still cooking in the ovens.

Pretzel Pretzel serves an array of pretzels, from typical soft pretzels to nuggets and pretzels stuffed with hot dogs or bratwurst. It also offers non-salted pretzels and nuggets upon request, as well as bulk orders for events and shaped pretzels for special occasions.

Melissa said the business has already had the pleasure of catering a wedding, crafted several custom shapes and provided quite a few party trays for larger events, and Pretzel Pretzel would be happy to work with schools or other groups in the area for similar catering purposes.

“We would love to get into the schools in the surrounding areas and have them sell our pretzels at sporting events, dances, etc.,” Melissa said.

The Waterloo Pretzel Pretzel is currently open at 933 N. Illinois Route 3 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, though they currently plan to extend their Tuesday and Friday hours to 6 p.m.

For more information, call 618-504-2019 or email pretzelpretzelwaterloo@yahoo.com.