K is for Krispy Kremes
Looks like double letter score two days in a row!
Per the Krispy Kreme website, their mission statement: “to touch and enhance lives through the joy that is Krispy Kreme.”
“Uuuuummmmm, doughnuts.” As Homer Simpson of the Simpson’s would say. Seems that they may have met the mission for him and many others. They are a very popular doughnut business. Not only have I seen people carry out multiple bags and boxes of them, but I’ve also seen a box with two of them being given away as a wedding gift to all of their guests.
Vernon Rudolph bought a raised doughnut recipe, rented a building and started selling doughnuts to grocery stores in 1937. As the smell of the doughnuts started getting out to the surrounding neighborhoods, they wanted to buy them. So, they built a walk-up window so the doughnuts could be sold fresh out of the oven to the local consumer direct.
The famous bowtie logo was trademarked in 1955. I didn’t realize that it was in the shape of a bowtie, but now I see it. The original sign that Vernon Rudolph had was in the shape of an arrow with the old-fashioned script, typically found in the 1930s.
Earlier this year, they opened their 1000th store in Kansas City. We used to have a couple here in Minnesota, they opened the first store in 2002 but then they closed the last one in 2008. From all of the people that said they loved the doughnuts, not sure if it was lack of demand in this market. Some have said that they had been doing a rapid expansion and that they may have put up too many stores at that time. They wanted to meet the initial demand, but once the frenzy of having something new simmered down, they sometimes wind up with too much product and not enough demand.
Their vision: “to be the worldwide leader in sharing delicious tastes and creating joyful memories.”
In 2001, the company went international by opening a store in Toronto, Canada and many other worldwide locations after.
The Maple iced glazed in my favorite Krispy Kreme, what’s yours?