Franchisee Voices: Joe Chiarello of Philly Pretzel Factory

Joe Chiarello is originally from the South Hampton, Pennsylvania area where his Philly Pretzel Factory is located. He attended Westchester University with a football scholarship and continued on to play semi-pro football for the Oakland Raiders as a tailback and return specialist. Coupled with being a great athlete, he had a passion for owning his own business. He bought his first franchise, Manhattan Bagel, at the age of 24, and continued to dabble in various ventures.

He went on to sell his that franchise but opened up three Rita’s Italian Ice locations, which he also went on to sell. In the past 15 years, he has owned a jewelry store, two pizza places and an apparel company, all of which he has since sold. While getting his license to do financial consulting, he met Philly Pretzel Factory co-founder Dan DiZio and jumped back in the business ownership game by purchasing a Philly Pretzel Factory franchise.

I met Dan DiZio while I was coaching his son’s soccer team and in the process of getting my financial license. I had real intentions of pursuing my consulting career and getting out of franchising completely, but the pretzel concept pulled me back in. I’ve been involved with franchising for many years and I had the instinct that this was a great company. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

My forte is building businesses so I took over my first Philly Pretzel Factory in Rocky Hill, NJ near Princeton and spent nine months growing it before selling it to another owner. I then went on to buy the Richboro location and after another year, I opened my Southampton location.