Wetzel's Pretzels inside the WalMart located at 7065 N. Ingram Ave. in Fresno opened on April 1, 2024. Photo by Ben Hensley

A national food chain will turn the Golden Arches into pretzel twists as shopping mall favorite Wetzel’s Pretzels expands into new formats.

Opened on April 1 at the WalMart Supercenter located at 7065 N. Ingram Ave., Wetzel’s Pretzels plans to expand further into new markets including food trucks, travel plazas, convenience stores and retail power centers.

Since 2021, longtime WalMart partner McDonalds, has progressively been closing its WalMart-based locations, citing the shift in customer shopping habits and drive-thru options as the main reasons for shuttering 85% of their WalMart-based restaurants.

The pandemic accelerated many of those closures.

Despite many retail centers and shopping malls seeing the return of foot traffic after the pandemic, Wetzel’s Pretzels is also thinking with the future in mind, remaining in shopping malls, but evolving to reach customers in a variety of new environments.

“We are always looking for ways to ‘Bring Pretzels to the People’ and our partnership with WalMart allows us to do so in a convenient and efficient manner,” a Wetzel’s Pretzels spokesperson told The Business Journal. “We have Wetzel outposts in more than 30 WalMart locations across the country and encourage fans old and new to come by our new Fresno location for a taste of the Wetzel’s twist.”

Wetzel’s also has a second location inside the WalMart store located at 1185 Herndon Ave. in Clovis. The store also saw its former McDonald’s store replaced by the pretzel maker.

Local Walmarts are no stranger to unique food offerings in their Valley locations; the Madera Walmart located at 1977 W. Cleveland Ave. is home to a Dunkin’ Donuts store — one of only two in the Central Valley. A Visalia store opened in February 2020.

The Fresno Walmart location at 4080 W. Shaw AVe. is home to a Domino’s Pizza location.