You could almost call it planned obsolescence, or simply fate, but when Jennifer and Todd Lentz first launched their Stuffed Gourmet Pretzels business in the Harbor Country community of Sawyer, it was almost inevitable that they would eventually outgrow the space simply due to overwhelming demand.
That day has come and this weekend the popular pretzel proprietors will be welcoming guests in their new shoreline community of South Haven. Jennifer calls it bittersweet news, telling Facebook fans recently, “We will be moving on from our cute little shop in Sawyer that has been home to us for the last two and a half years.” She admits, “We’ve known for a while that although a great starting point for us, we weren’t going to last very long there because of the size.”
The first plan by the Lentz family was to simply separate wholesale operations from retail, keeping the wholesale in Sawyer while searching for a new retail location. Jennifer told fans, “I’m abundantly happy to announce we have found our new retail home which will be at 406 Phoenix Street in downtown South Haven…right on the lake…tons of foot traffic…and of course a view to dream of.”
Then, as plans were progressing, she learned from her landlord that the property had been sold and would be changing hands. She says, “With the uncertainty of what could lie ahead for our wholesale production, we have decided to take up residence at the Niles Incubator Kitchen for our wholesale needs, until we find a new home for our wholesale operations. That will allow us to search for just the right spot.”
In the meantime, work has progressed on Stuffed Gourmet Pretzels’ new showcase and they are currently gearing up for their Grand Opening Weekend this weekend. Jennifer admits that she is sad to be leaving Harbor Country, inasmuch as she got very used to being so close to home, but they are certain they have hit the jackpot with their new location in South Haven. She says it will serve them well, and notes, “I’ve spent a lot of time canvassing the area, talking to shop owners about the flow and of course our products, and we couldn’t be more excited to get our doors open!”
Stuffed Gourmet Pretzels will formally open for business with an 11am ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday, November 9th, and will serve from 11:30am until 4:30pm. The celebration continues on Saturday from 11 until 5 and Sunday from 11 until 4 at 406 Phoenix Street in South Haven.
Here’s some of what you’ll find on the opening menu:
- Classic Salted
- Everything Pretzel
- Cheese Bites
- Beer Cheese Bites
- Garlic Parmesan Bites
- Cinnamon Sugar Bites
- Pretzel Dog
- Ham & Swiss Stuffed Pretzel
- Various Pretzel Chips
- Garlic Parmesan Dip
- Various Pretzel Bark Bags
- Chocolate Chunk Cookie Stuffed (featuring Cookies on Call’s amazing cookies)
- Chocolate Churro Dotzel (pretzel donut)
- Vanilla Brown Butter Dotzel (pretzel donut)
As they make the transition from Harbor Country to South Haven, the Lentz family is grateful. Jennifer says to her customers and fans, “We are so thankful to have taken this weird, off-beat idea of shoving goodness into our homemade pretzel dough and turned it into a small family-owned business and we couldn’t have done it without you.”
