Photo by David Pollan

Pretzels Pleaze! owners Amanda and George Roman never imagined that making chocolate covered pretzels as a last-minute Secretary's Day gift in 2008 would eventually spawn into a storefront on Main Street in Tomball.

"Honestly, I had procrastinated a bit and needed some gifts for people at work," George said. "It was last minute, so Amanda had the idea of making chocolate-covered pretzels, and she put together a nice, little arrangement. The gifts went over very well with the people at work."

Amanda would continue to experiment with making chocolate-covered pretzels in the following months, taking it up as a hobby and never envisioning it being much more than that. In 2008, as a side project, Amanda started selling her pretzels on the Etsy website, which she described as an Ebay for homemade goods.

Once on Etsy, it did not take long for Amanda's pretzels to develop a customer base. Her pretzels were recognized on a number of major party planning websites. The recognition gained led to increased demand for Amanda's pretzels from around the country. What once started as a hobby had transpired into an online business, Amanda said.

For the next four to five years, the Romans operated their pretzel business solely as an online venture, shipping edible goods around the country mainly to customers on the East and West coasts. To fill the number of orders coming in, the Romans would rent out kitchens and buy the necessary ingredients at stores across the Houston area, George said.

"We weren't really pushing a business but it was like, if it comes, it comes," he said. "It got to a point where the orders just started coming in daily. At some point, we decided that we were either going to do this legitimately, or we were just going to let it go."

That point came in 2012 after the Romans were invited to include their chocolate-covered pretzels in the official Emmy gift bag that was distributed at the 33rd annual Emmy Awards, Amanda said.

After about six months of discussion, and having grown weary of renting out kitchens and operating without a distributor, the Romans sold their toy car and opened a storefront for their business venture, Pretzels Pleaze!, in June 2013 in downtown Tomball, Amanda said.

"We lucked out not only coming to Tomball, especially with everything coming out here, but we are here on Main Street," George said. "It's the perfect place for us."

Pretzels Pleaze! not only offers chocolate-covered pretzels but has expanded its menu to include apples, marshmallows and Oreos that are decorated and hand-dipped in white, milk or dark chocolate. The business specializes in creating chocolate-covered treats to match any party dcor and will customize everything.

George said it is their ability to customize and tailor orders specifically to what a customer wants, no matter how small or large the order, that sets Pretzels Pleaze! apart from the competition.

Since opening in Tomball, Pretzels Pleaze! gets a majority of its business locally either from walk-in traffic or from local businesses and corporations. Online ordering is still available but the main focus is on the storefront, George said.

"Lately business has picked up to a pull-your-hair-out-kind of level," he said.

With business going well, the Romans have plans to expand in the future by offering more products, growing their market base and getting additional help.

"We want to keep going in this business and offering different products," George said. "Business has increased to the point where it would be beneficial to have some help. Tomball has been that good to us."

Pretzels Pleaze!, 411 W. Main St., Ste. A, Tomball 832-303-7009, www.pretzelspleaze.com, Hours: Wed.–Fri. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Closed Sun.–Tue.