New digital resource will enable parents to search, discover and book over 5,000 classes, parties, and activities in just a few clicks
This May, Amanda Cole, Hartsdale resident and founder of the successful breastfeeding resource and store Yummy Mummy, will launch Pretzl, a new parenting website. Dreamed up by Cole and her co-founder, Olivia Leon, Pretzl will revolutionize the way parents in Westchester County create and organize their children’s’ schedules. Pretzl is a first of its kind portal in the New York suburban area that enables moms and dads to search, discover and book classes, all on the same site.
Serving the parents of the approximately 219,000 kids in Westchester, the online marketplace will boast more than 5,000 Westchester-area activities, classes, camps, events and parties at launch. Pretzl will allow parents to identify and immediately book activities for their children while at the same time creating a solution for youth-targeted businesses and facilities to fill their unsold inventory. The site will feature an easy-to-navigate search engine where customers will be able to identify offerings by activity, town/location, date, time and age range. Search results will contain all necessary information with the ability to sort and purchase, without any additional fees or redirection to another website. Post purchase, parents will be able to manage schedules via their phone, PC or tablet.
This is not Cole’s first foray into the startup world. She is also the CEO and founder of Yummy Mummy, the largest Durable Medical Equipment provider in the country specializing in breast pumps and supplies. She recognized the need for a product like Pretzl from her own experience planning her son’s sixth birthday. The busy working mom was frustrated with the lack of a consolidated resource for party and class venues/options and spent countless hours soliciting recommendations from fellow parents and searching the Internet. The MBA-trained mom joined forces with Yummy Mummy Marketing Director and fellow NYU Stern School of Business colleague, Leon, to create a single, tech-friendly site where parents could find just the right class for their child or plan a standout birthday party with everything from invites to party favors.
“Our mission is for Pretzl to revolutionize the way parents discover and book activities for their children,” says Cole. “We’re accomplishing two things: simplifying the often time-consuming and stressful process of class scheduling and party planning and exposing children to experiences they never knew existed but will surely love.”
Unlike similar sites which may enable search options, Pretzl is the only one designed with the ease of one-stop-shopping. There is no membership fee to use the site. Cole remarked, “We’re incredibly excited about and proud of the product we’re bringing to our community. We have an extensive selection of activities from which to choose, all from a curated list of first-rate venues. Not only is booking through Pretzl just as legitimate as booking directly through the venue, it’s a lot easier because you can book all of your kids’ activities at the same time, via one portal.”
The mompreneurs’ combined expertise in servicing and successfully marketing to the parenting market provided them the quantitative information and resources to create a product parents and business owners will utilize. Leon commented, “With Pretzl, we’re accomplishing a two-fold objective. The site will be the go-to place for parents searching for kids’ classes, camps, birthday party venues and activities. At the same time, from a business partner perspective, the class management software gives our venue partners an easy-to-use and streamlined way to manage class and party registration.”
Future plans for the site include geographic expansion, a loyalty points program and a mobile app. How Pretzl got its name? According to some historians, the earliest pretzels were dubbed “pretiolas,” meaning “little rewards.” Cole and Leon want to, “give kids the reward of amazing experiences and give their parents the reward of easily finding and booking those experiences.”
For more information on Pretzl, visit www.pretzl.com and follow on Facebook for the latest news and updates. Parents will be able to start discovering and booking the best area experiences for kids in April.
