When Mikkel Paris took over Auntie Anne’s Philippines, the franchise was in bad shape. Stores were outdated, teams were disengaged, and the brand was struggling in the market. Instead of jumping straight into marketing and promotions, Paris knew the business needed a deeper fix—a complete operational and cultural reset.
Step 1: Rebuild the Team Before the Brand
Paris’s first move was to retrain employees and re-engage the workforce.
“The first year, I said we need to retrain all our teams. We need to re-motivate them, re-engage them, and let them know there are new owners now, and we’re here to help,” he recalls.
He reached out to Auntie Anne’s headquarters and requested a full retraining program. A Filipino representative from the brand helped assess the stores and guide the turnaround.
Step 2: Upgrade Outdated Stores
Some locations hadn’t been renovated since the 1990s, making them look old and neglected.
“The stores were falling apart. We had to rebuild some of them to make them look fresh again,” Paris says.
This investment in store renovations helped restore customer confidence and made the brand feel relevant again.
Step 3: Strengthen Supplier and Government Relationships
Beyond fixing stores, Paris focused on rebuilding supplier connections and ensuring compliance with government agencies.
“We worked on fixing our relationships with suppliers and making sure the team had everything they needed,” he explains.
Step 4: Prove Commitment to Expansion
To show mall operators that the brand was serious about growth, Paris took a bold step—opening new locations in Davao, even though he had never been there before.
“SM told us, ‘If you’re really serious, take these locations in Davao.’ I had never been there, but I flew in and opened two stores. That’s when offers for new locations started coming in.”
Step 5: Focus on Operations Before Marketing
Unlike most businesses, Paris didn’t spend on marketing in the first year. Instead, he personally handled social media, taking product shots on his phone and posting on Facebook.
By year two, the efforts paid off. Auntie Anne’s Philippines won the Best New Franchisee award and became one of the top-performing Auntie Anne’s franchises worldwide.
Paris’s strategy proved that a struggling franchise isn’t revived by ads—it’s rebuilt from the inside out.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
