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Planet Money
Planet Money

There's no business like dough business

June 03, 2026 • 27m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

Planet Money teams up with the podcast Hyperfixed to investigate a peculiar retail mystery: why are there three Wetzel's Pretzels locations clustered within a minute's walk of each other at Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station? The investigation reveals the counterintuitive economics of impulse products, franchise clustering strategies, and how one immigrant entrepreneur built his pretzel empire by bringing pretzels directly to commuters.

The Pretzel Mystery at Brooklyn's Busiest Station

Listener Jed Kronfeld noticed something strange at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station in Brooklyn - three Wetzel's Pretzels locations all within a minute's walk of each other. Two tiny locations inside the subway terminal, barely bigger than broom closets, plus a full location in the mall above. This seemingly irrational clustering sparked questions about whether these locations compete with each other or if there's a deeper business strategy at play.

  • The Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station is Brooklyn's busiest subway hub, connecting nine or ten different lines plus the Long Island Railroad, with a mall on top
  • Three Wetzel's Pretzels locations exist within one minute's walk of each other - one in the mall and two tiny locations inside the subway terminal
  • The two subway locations are described as no larger than broom closets, making their existence seem economically puzzling
" On the upper end, in the mall, there is one Wetzel's Pretzels, and it looks like any Wetzel's Pretzels. And then within the system, on the top floor, there is a Wetzel's Pretzels, and on the bottom floor, there is another Wetzel's Pretzels. "

The Broader Pattern: Clustering Across America

The investigation revealed that the Atlantic Avenue cluster isn't an anomaly - Wetzel's Pretzels locations cluster throughout America. There are three locations at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, three at Del Amo Fashion Center in California, and five at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The pattern suggests this clustering strategy is a deliberate, company-wide approach for impulse products in high-traffic venues, revealing hidden economic logic behind the retail landscape we navigate daily.

  • Three Wetzel's locations exist at American Dream Mall in New Jersey and Del Amo Fashion Center in California
  • Five Wetzel's Pretzels locations operate at Crypto.com Arena where the LA Lakers play
  • The pattern reveals that wherever one Wetzel's exists, others are often strategically placed nearby
" The more we looked into it, the more we noticed where one Wetzel's Pretzels location exists, other Wetzel's Pretzels are often very close by. "

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