Crofton’s Pretzels plans to open a new shop in Raleigh this spring.

The Raleigh location will be the second shop for the Wilmington bakery, which opened on Oleander Drive in 2019 before moving to the corner of Market and S. 17th streets in 2022. The new Raleigh store is part of a broader effort to grow the business, said Nathan Miller, Crofton's chief operations officer.

Miller joined Crofton's owner Aidan Crofton as a partner in the business about a year ago. The two met as roommates at the U.S. Naval Academy, he said.

“He's been bugging me to come join him and make pretzels,” Miller said. “My schedule cleared up, and so about a year ago, I moved here to Wilmington to help expand on the business side of things.”

Miller said they’ve focused on maintaining Crofton’s quality, customer base and atmosphere through “organic” growth in the Wilmington area and beyond.

Crofton's Pretzels offers an array of gourmet soft pretzels, including standard salted pretzels, pretzel dogs and pretzels stuffed with various savory and sweet fillings.

The Raleigh and Durham areas were appealing because of their higher population density, Miller said, so they kept an eye on real estate listings, looking for the right location and aesthetic. Last fall, the roughly 2,000-square-foot commercial space at 1400 S. Saunders St. in Raleigh came onto the market.

“It popped up, and it was previously a bakery,” Miller said. “That caught our attention because we knew there was going to be a little bit less work to do to get it open.”

The business partners began looking at the space in November and recently finalized the lease. They plan to open in April, Miller said, but before then they have two major upfits planned.

Because they expect to have more wholesale opportunities in the Raleigh area, they’re working on installing larger ovens to accommodate the expected demand, Miller said.

Crofton’s Wilmington location has an open concept where customers can watch workers twisting pretzels. Miller said they want to bring the same open concept to the Raleigh location, and they have plans to remove an existing wall that separates the kitchen from the rest of the shop space.

They plan to hire a full-time manager to run the Raleigh location with Miller and Crofton traveling to Raleigh to oversee initial operations and staff training.

“We want the quality to be the same – whether you go to Raleigh or stay here in Wilmington you're going to get the same pretzel at either spot,” Miller said, “so it's really important for us to be very involved, particularly as we start.”

Miller said he expects the menus at both locations will be largely the same, and the owners plan to send Crofton’s food truck to the Raleigh area to help establish their presence. They have plans to invest in the outdoor space at Crofton’s Wilmington location and hope to add a second food truck to serve the Wilmington area by this summer, Miller said.

“We have had a really great, awesome customer base here in Wilmington that has allowed us to grow the business, and then get to the point where we're able to open a second location,” he said. “We feel that, hey, if they love it here in Wilmington, then they're going to love it in Raleigh, and so for us, it's exciting and it's validating as well.”