Southerners crave them. New Yorkers line up to get them while they’re hot. Elvis kept a dozen around at all times. They are a permanent part of the Smithsonian.
Now, on Oct. 24 at 6 a.m., residents of Utah can find out what all the commotion is about when the first Krispy Kreme store, at 417 W. University Parkway, opens its doors to the Beehive State.
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Like Krispy Kremes across the nation, the Utah store will feature drive-thru service, lots of seating and a glass viewing area so customers can see the doughnuts actually being made. The “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign lights up every time the store is making its Original Glazed doughnuts so fans know when they are coming off the machine hot.
The 4,400-square-foot store that will employ up to 120 people is built around a doughnut-making machine that rolls out more than 200 dozen doughnuts an hour — all within the sight of wide-eyed diners who can watch through a 30-foot window.
Krispy Kreme stores feature more than 15 varieties of doughnuts, including the company’s trademarked Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts as well as other yeast-raised delights and cake doughnuts. To complement the doughnuts, Krispy Kreme brews its own special blend of 100 percent Arabica coffee beans, which are roasted to the company’s exact specifications. The blend was first poured for the December 1996 lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washnigton, D.C.
As Krispy Kreme expands across the country, so does its legend. Longtime employees say Elvis Presley demanded that a dozen fresh, raspberry-filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts be kept on hand at his Graceland mansion in Memphis at all times.
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By GlobalDataThe King isn’t the only celebrity who has fallen for Krispy Kreme’s sweet charms. Among the growing list of more recent Krispy Kreme converts is actress Jessica Tandy (who shared screen time with Krispy Kreme doughnuts in “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Fried Green Tomatoes”); and singer Vince Gill (who told fans during a North Carolina concert that he was “staying in Winston-Salem as long as the `Hot Doughnuts Now’ sign is on”).
Krispy Kreme raised its profile even higher when it opened its first store in New York City in 1996, drawing large crowds and generating national media attention. Krispy Kreme quickly became a favorite of “Today” show personalities, especially Willard Scott, who confessed on network television, “It’s a religion, and I belong to the church of Krispy Kreme.”
Roy Blount Jr. offered this simple explanation for the phenomenon in the New York Times Magazine: “Krispy Kremes are the best doughnuts in creation. When Krispy Kremes are hot, they are to doughnuts what angels are to people.”
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp., with headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C., sells more than 1.3 billion doughnuts a year and has more than 155 locations in 27 states.
Krispy Kreme’s legacy began in 1933 when Vernon Rudolph, the founder of Krispy Kreme, bought a doughnut shop from a New Orleans French chef. Along with the purchase, he also acquired a secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe. The business moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., in the late 1930s. The first Krispy Kreme doughnuts were made and sold there on July 13, 1937.
Since April, Krispy Kreme has opened four new stores including a store in Las Vegas; a commissary in Nashville, Tenn.; a store in Owings Mills, Md.; and most recently in Gardena, Calif.
Krispy Kreme began trading on the Nasdaq Stock exchange on April 5, 2000 under the symbol KREM. Krispy Kreme can be found on the Web at www.utahdoughnuts.com
Information contained in this news release, other than historical information, may be considered forward looking in nature and is subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or expected. Among the key factors that may have a direct bearing on Krispy Kreme’s operating results, performance or financial condition are its dependence on franchisees to execute its store expansion strategy, supply issues, competition and numerous other factors discussed in Krispy Kreme’s S-1 Registration Statement, declared effective on April 4, 2000, that is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
