Eagle Ridge Food Vendor Offers Fresh Twist On Pretzels
by James Coulter
They say necessity is the mother of invention. They also say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
So when Pretzel Time closed down at the Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales, the vacancy left a necessity for a new pretzel shop at the mall.
Fortunately, Ashely Caraway was more than willing to invent a new place to fill this necessity, as well as make some lemonade—as well as pretzels—in the process.
She opened a new store, Fresh Twist Pretzels, last September. Since then has been serving fresh lemonade and handmade pretzels to mall shoppers and guests.
“It was a new experience, a new opportunity,” she said.
Fresh Twist Pretzels, true to its name, offers a fresh twist on pretzels by serving various types of pretzels, from big soft pretzels to small pretzel bites and even pretzel dogs. Their menu features six different pretzel items, each with six different flavors.
Aside from the titular pretzels, the food stall also offers several drinks to wash everything down with, including soft drinks, lemonade, and frozen slushies. Also served are various homemade baked goods including cupcakes and muffins, the type of items rarely sold at such mall vendors.
Though their stall is small, their menu has been expanding with bigger and better items. Recently, they started selling Starbucks coffee and fresh fruit smoothies, and they plan on offering even more.
As someone who loves to bake, Caraway loves experimenting with different baked goods and selling them at her food stall. Being able to offer something aside from the usual mall fare of pretzels and lemonade is quite the experience for her.
“I loved to bake,” she said. “It is actually really easy. If you can follow the ingredients and the instructions, then it explains itself.”
Caraway originally started her business at the Sebring Mall four years ago. She and her family recently moved to Lake Wales. So rather than drive all the way to Sebring and back, she decided to open up a place nearby in town. As such, she immediately pounced at the opportunity to open up something in Eagle Ridge Mall, she said.
Her husband has been working at Wal-Mart for the past fifteen years. Between the two of them, they both have years of professional experience running a business, so they are always running something, she said.
Since opening up shop several months ago, her business has proven quite successful within the mall. She hopes to add more items to her menu and offer a more diverse selection than what most other mall stalls usually offer.
“We are starting to pick up on business a lot more,” she said. “At first, it was slow because a lot of people thought it was closed, but it is doing a lot better now maintaining itself.”
Fresh Twist Pretzels is located within Eagle Ridge Mall, located at 451 Eagle Ridge Drive, Lake Wales, FL 33859. For more information, visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/FRESH-TWIST-Pretzels-2107052239566982/
