Latest news with #MikeFreeman
Fast Company
15 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Auntie Anne's is rebranding for a future with fewer shopping malls
How do you take a mall food court brand and future-proof it for a world with fewer malls? For Auntie Anne's, the answer is modernizing the stores they already have with a new concept designed for the way people snack now. Auntie Anne's said Monday it would remodel 150 stores this year with a new store concept and a modernized visual identity designed to sell more of its pretzels, drinks, and snacks to millennial and Gen Z consumers at a time of changing habits. With consumers interested in mobile ordering, grab-and-go food, and novel experiences, the updated Auntie Anne's store concept has a dedicated mobile order pickup area and an open view into the kitchen with a 'Now Rolling' sign to draw attention to employees rolling pretzels by hand. 'Consumer expectations have shifted, especially around digital convenience, off-premise access, and visual appeal,' Mike Freeman, president of brands at Auntie Anne's holding company GoTo Foods, tells Fast Company in an email. The redesigned stores were made to meet those expectations. 'It reflects how guests want to engage today with speed, transparency, and a space that feels fresh and energetic,' Freeman says. A new blue and yellow 'twist' mural pattern gives the store a more modern and colorful look, and an updated Auntie Anne's logo is simpler and does without the old halo element of the outgoing logo. Founded in the height of the shopping mall era in 1988, today Auntie Anne's has more than 2,000 locations in shopping malls, outlets, airports, universities, Walmarts, travel plazas, military bases, and food trucks. Its owner, GoTo Foods, operates or franchises more than 6,900 restaurants and cafés for brands including Cinnabon, Jamba, and Schlotzsky's. Malls and airports are 'core to Auntie Anne's heritage and continue to play a key role in the brand's footprint,' Freeman says, but expansion is also key. The brand plans for growth that includes street side and co-branded locations, and it's open to partnerships and cross-branded collabs with Oreo and Hidden Valley Ranch. The rebrand is about selling a nostalgic snack in a more contemporary way. Revitalizing a food court favorite that's outlived many of the shopping malls it once occupied is no small feat, and updating the store's look and feel could go a long way in keeping it relevant.
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USA Today Network mock draft sends Tennessee Volunteers star to K.C. Chiefs in Round 1
USA Today Network mock draft sends Tennessee Volunteers star to K.C. Chiefs in Round 1 The Kansas City Chiefs won't have any margin for error during the 2025 NFL draft, and one USA Today analyst recently predicted that the reigning AFC champions will make a bold move in the first round. In a recent USA Today Network mock draft, veteran sports columnist Mike Freeman sent Tennessee Volunteers pass-rusher James Pearce to Kansas City with the No. 31 selection. Check out Freeman's full analysis of the pick below: "The mission is simple: make the defense more explosive. Allow Patrick Mahomes the freedom of not always having to save the day." Though the Chiefs already have an impressive stable of edge-rushers on their roster, the addition of a promising sack-master like Pearce could help Kansas City earn a fourth-consecutive Super Bowl appearance next season. Stay tuned to see if Pearce will prove to be the Chiefs' first-round pick, or if Kansas City's front office has other plans for the No. 31 selection.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Yahoo
Charges: Driver in Wayzata police death was on her phone and a substance
MINNEAPOLIS – The driver of a car that struck and killed a Wayzata police officer last week on U.S. Highway 12 has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide. One of the charges say she may have been under the influence of a substance, and the complaint says she told officers she was messing with her cellphone. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced on Monday, Sept. 11, that the actions of Beth Ilene Freeman, 54, of Mound, led to the death of Wayzata Police Officer William Mathews, 47. One charge is for gross negligence vehicular homicide and the other is for driving under the influence of a controlled substance vehicular homicide. Beth Freeman was expected to make her first appearance before a judge on Monday, Sept. 11. 'This is another case of a distracted driver, someone who thought she could drive a one-ton vehicle safely while using her cellphone,' said Mike Freeman, who is not related to Beth Freeman. 'She couldn't and neither can anyone else on our roads. The result is too many of these tragedies where good people are dying through no fault of their own.' Mathews was sent to Highway 12 near Broadway Avenue in Wayzata at 12:26 p.m. because of a 'chunk of metal in the road.' About four minutes later, the call came of an officer who had been hit. Motorists told investigators that Mathews had picked up the metal and was nearly back to his squad car, parked on the right shoulder, when a Nissan Murano struck him. They said it was traveling eastbound between 55 and 65 miles per hour, the complaint states. Beth Ilene Freeman told officers she was talking on the phone and receiving text messages just before collision. A search of her cellphone corroborated that admission, according to the complaint. In addition, a police officer administered a field sobriety test to Freeman and she had constricted pupils and had difficulty counting backward. A search warrant was obtained and blood was drawn from her, though the results have not yet been returned, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office states. Drug paraphernalia in the passenger compartment of her car tested positive for cocaine, the complaint states. On Monday afternoon, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that Mathews died from multiple blunt force injuries after being struck by a motor vehicle. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and Minnesota State Patrol are investigating.
