What happened to Krispy Kreme?

[purchaser1]

I don't work in Boston anymore, but I'm hearing that the Krispy Kremes have gone away form the area. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I have been craving a glazed donut and dunkins isn't doing me right.

[purchaser1]

wow, some pretty hostile feeling towards the KK! Never a huge donut fan, but the occasional fresh glazed donut was pretty awesome. Oh well, have to stick to the homemade cider donuts. Thanks for all your input!

[TonyO]

1. No Carb fad diets
2. Over expansion taking away the "mystique" of the donut
3. Local bakeries with better donuts

So long "HOT" sign......................

[Harp00n]

More succinctly, a one trick pony with bad coffee, Big O!
I'd rather be force-fed two gallons of Dixie-style iced tea than eat their "alleged" donuts.

Harp

[Pigeage]

Good riddance to bad rubbish! New England has a very proud donut tradition - home of the cruller (hand twisted, not the "French cruller" which is machine made and a joke like "French Fries"). In Connecticut it is widely know that, like Pizza, Grinders (Sub Sandwiches), and most everything you can put in your mouth - local places rule and we can't imaging going to a chain restaurant for the same snack or meal. Can you imagine Subway over Franklin Giant Grinders in Hartford? Pizza Hut over Modern Apizza in New Haven? So add Whitney Donut in Hamden vs. KK. See ya, sweet southern airballs! "You better run, Johnny Reb corporate chain! Yankee-born mom-n-pops all over New England will kick your ass into the late 21st century! (Just don't ask us to make biscuits . . .)" :-)

[danieljdwyer]

It might be a chain, but Subway is also a local business. They started out in Fairfield, near Sacred Heart, and now are headquartered in Milford. Their original business plan was based on selling a less expensive and better tasting alternative to college cafeteria food. For many years, they operated a sandwich truck (really an old school bus) around the UConn bars after close. When I was growing up, we didn't even have a chain supermarket in town, but we had two Subways and two Dunkin Donuts. Both of those chains have deep roots in the state. Krispy Kreme is a completely different story, but I don't see too many natives eschewing either Subway or Dunkin Donuts simply because they managed to spread out from Southern New England.

[Veggo]

True story about Subway, but Frank Deluca didn't become a billionaire by serving us banquets.

[Pigeage]

I am aware of Subway's CT roots. They are a chain with a colorful record as a franchisee and have done much to spread good eating around the world. ;-)

[greygarious]

I imagine the KK store traffic suffered when they started selling KK in supermarkets, even though that defeated the purpose, since the legendary beacon was the neon sign which was turned on to indicate when the donuts were hot off the fryer. Once the glazed ones were cooled, they were not the same. And the other varieties were no better than DDs. Most people here preferred DD's coffee, and larger size donuts, which are perceived as a better value.

[Foodgirl29]

The first time I tried KK I loved them, I think it was the hype(I nevbr had one untile the store in Newington, CT opened). The 2nd time I had them they were horrible. Coffee was also terrible. Not a fan of DD anymore either. The coffee smell lingers thru my house for hours!!! Tim Hortons-IMHO-has the best, freshest coffee and their baked goods are also fresher than DD.

[no0b]

Ha. That too. They were selling them in shaws and claiming to be "freshly baked for the day" and the funny thing is they were delivering at NIGHT. So many times I'd go to Shaws at like 9pm and see the Krispy Kreme truck there and the guy bringing in donuts.

[sophie fox]

I wondered about this myself, but stopped asking when every Bostonian to whom I mentioned it said "but DD is so much better!"
Eeeeks.

[MaineLobstah]

KK also had a pretty big accounting problem/scandal...that was a major part of their stock price problem.

Lob

[Delhiwala]

According to Krispy Kreme's website, they no longer have any stores in Massachusetts. The closest store is at Mohegan Sun in CT.

[JayCT]

They opened several here in CT to HUGH lines. The cars went down the Berlin Turnpike at the Newington shop. Same in Milford. After a while the hype died down and the Newington store tried to make up for lost business by selling to supermarkets. Unfortunately the zoning prohibited this and they had to stop. They closed not long after that. The funny thing is that building was taken over by CitiBank and they closed a few months after opening too. Jay

[krisrishere]

Really?? That bank closed too? That's crazy. I always drove by it and thought it was a very interesting choice to put a bank there.

[kimfair1]

KK was never going to break the Dunkin Donuts hold on New Englanders. It wasn't about the donuts (which I find way too sweet) but rather the coffee which was near undrinkable (not that I'm a fan of DD coffee either - I prefer my home brew to any I can get in a store), but New Englanders love the DD coffee (again not sure why, but they do), and once the novelty of the donuts wore off, there wasn't much reason to go back.

[monku]

Overexpansion during the Atkins diet craze.
My teeth hurt when I eat their donuts.....you think its too much sugar?

[Td61]

Amen.
Atkin's / Southbeach tanked em.

[Caralien]

I bought a bunch of KK stock about 10 years ago. It's been going down since--even before the economy tanked it was worth about 1/10 what I paid for it. Fortunately, it's in my IRA fund with Sharebuilder, and has been worth less than the $16 it would cost to dump it.

[c oliver]

Oh, boo :( It makes me sad because I have such fond memories of it.

[no0b]

They put a few of those in RI within the past few years. I had it once or twice and wasn't impressed. Too...fluffy or something.

What the hell is up with Mohegan? There's like 2 or 3 of them in that place with lines going out the door. I don't understand people who buy dozens of donuts at casinos..of all the food there and you're going to take home donuts you can get anywhere. Or sit at a table eating a box of donuts. haha.

[stormshadow]

KK had TERRIBLE COFFEE. Many people other than myself often complained the donuts were sickeningly sweet.

[Caralien]

There are already many threads on people not liking Krispy Kreme. It's better with a glass of milk, as is cake.

[JaneRI]

I thought KK had excellent coffee....more like Tim Hortons, less like that burnt bitter glop that DD's calls coffee.

noOb, they only had one in RI, in Cranston.

But yeah there is something about KK and casinos. First time I ever had KK was in Vegas, it was a southern family (I heard the accents) middle-aged couple w/the elderly mother of one of them. Breakfast was a dozen KK donuts, a couple of large McDonalds fries poured into the upended top of the donut box, and coffees all around. And they were skinny!

[Veggo]

It is sad that a cottage business that began making Dutch fried yeast cakes in 1937, became an object of Wall Street pariahs in 2000, offering a refreshing alternative after the dot-com bust in the late 90's. The stock came to market at $21 and closed at $37 on the opening day. Incompetent management expanded stores and overhead recklessly, until today when the stock price is $1.40 per share and is losing $.55 per share annually. You can do the math to calculate when this brand with a faithful following since the post-depression era, will soon sink to the bottom of the deep blue sea.
Too bad.

[c oliver]

I think it's a nationwide problem. The one in Reno, NV, closed also. I grew up with KK's but I'm guessing after the initial swoon, as well as the initial public offering !, it just didn't sing to lots of people. Boo hoo. Every year or two, I need a plain, glazed :(