Krispy Kreme, how NOT to run a business

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BlackElantraGT

New member
Until fall of 1998, I had never heard of Krispy Kreme before until I moved back to Southern California. I remember going to Krispy Kreme for the first time because the wait in the drive through was like an hour and a half, and the wait outside the building was just as long, with a long line that went outside and wrapped around the store and more.



And after tasting it, I could see why a lot of people waited so long just for their fresh donuts despite it costing $5-6 for a dozen, which was higher than any of the mom and pop shops. In the following years, they opened a lot of stores and it seemed like you can get their donuts anywhere, even in your local supermarket.



In the process, they put a lot of mom and pop donut shops out of business or in jeopardy. I'm Cambodian and a lot of donut shops here in California are Cambodian-owned. Every Cambodian knows someone in the donut business. They were putting my people out of business!



Fast-forward to today. They've closed down so many of their stores around me that there's none nearby without a long drive. I'm not going to drive out of my way just for expensive donuts, no matter how tasty they are. I'm signed up for their newsletter because they used to send coupons or let you know about deals they had.



In the past couple of years, they haven't sent me anything in their newsletter worthy of reading or using. Today, they sent me an email letting me know they got their Pumpkin Spice donuts. Great, but where's my coupon Krispy Kreme? They need to fire whoever is running their business because they sure don't know how to win customers back. And from the past few times I've been to their store, it sure looks like they could use more customers.
 
Kripsy Kreme started to try and infiltrate New England back in 1999-2000. This is crazy since this is the home of Dunkin' Donuts. Sure KK donuts are WAY better than DD donuts, but most people go to DD for the coffee and non-donut food items now. Needless to say it's now 2007 and the last store that I'm aware of in New England closed within the last year or so.



From the articles I've read on occassion about KK, they had a lot more problems than just a Cambodian back lash or you not getting your coupons. For instance, the low carb (Atkins Diet) craze of a few years ago. There were numerous other problems they had some managerial and some socio-economical but I don't recall many of them.
 
Krispy Kreme came into Amarillo and was closed in under a year. Even being on I-40, they couldn't compete with our local shop - The Donut Stop. Donut Stop has been in business for 33 years. I find that folks from Amarillo (and Texas in general) are very loyal - that's crucial in any business.
 
I haven't done a study on Krispy Kreme, but it seems like they tried to go Starbucks route and open as many stores as quickly as possible, but it didn't work for them. Did they grow too quick? Too much supply and not enough demand? They have a good product and people were willing to pay the price for it, so it's just weird that they died off so quickly.



On another note, I wish we had more Dunkin' Donuts here in California. The last time I remember being in one was in the Northeast. In Fresno, I believe there were a couple of DD. We used to have Winchell's here in SoCal, but as Cambodians started taking over the donut business here, I saw less and less of them. I can only think of one Winchell's that might still be in business around me.
 
the KK near me closed down and the nearest one is in ontario, california which is about 10-15 miles away. i've only ate their donuts once or twice which was years ago (if i want donuts, there is a donut shop right behind my house), but now that we talk about it, i want one or two or three...
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I didn’t really follow it but there were lots of articles, analyses and editorials written about KK’s rise and fall. A little Googling would probably turn up plenty of interesting reading.



I’m not exactly a hard core doughnut aficionado, but I only find them ok. To me they were fine but never lived up to the hype.



I practically always prefer to deal with the little guys when it comes to service based transactions anyway. I’m more than happy to hand my money to our local Cambodian family. They’re really nice people. They work really hard. And they make excellent doughnuts. Can’t ask for more than that.





PC.
 
the other pc said:
I didn’t really follow it but there were lots of articles, analyses and editorials written about KK’s rise and fall. A little Googling would probably turn up plenty of interesting reading.



I’m not exactly a hard core doughnut aficionado, but I only find them ok. To me they were fine but never lived up to the hype.



I practically always prefer to deal with the little guys when it comes to service based transactions anyway. I’m more than happy to hand my money to our local Cambodian family. They’re really nice people. They work really hard. And they make excellent doughnuts. Can’t ask for more than that.





PC.
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Personally, I would LOVE to go to a mom & pop donut shop but there really aren't many in MA. The whole state is just DOMINATED by Dunkin' Donuts we have more DDs than Starbucks here.
 
SpoiledMan said:
I knew the end was coming when they stopped giving away the sample donuts....
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LOL, I remember the first time they told me they don't give away the one free sample. I was like ***!?



That was the one donut that would hold you up until you got in your car, after which you would finish the dozen or two with whomever was in the car with you before you ever left their parking lot. Chris Rock was right, their donuts were like crack!
 
Krispy Kreme hurt themselves terribly by over reporting earnings and other accounting games. Once the word was out, their stock tanked.



Vendors were getting the short end of the deal.



The corporation spent too much too fast trying to expand, as well.
 
...and the franchise fees were high as all hell! I'm so glad the *we* didn't put our cash in the barrel on that one.
 
Krispy Kreme is the crack cocaine of snack foods. :nervous2:



They still have them in the Dallas area and the one in Arlington always appears to be busy.
 
They still have one in Memphis. When the red Krispy Kreme's light is on, the donuts are fresh.



I worked a wreck last year early one morning. A Krispy Kreme delivery truck ran off the road and hit a bunch of pine trees. There weren't donuts everywhere but it was the best smelling wreck I've ever worked in 14 years =).
 
PRB said:
Krispy Kreme hurt themselves terribly by over reporting earnings and other accounting games. Once the word was out, their stock tanked.



Vendors were getting the short end of the deal.



The corporation spent too much too fast trying to expand, as well.
Click to expand...



Their franchising fees are excessive as well.
 
Cooter said:
I worked a wreck last year early one morning. A Krispy Kreme delivery truck ran off the road and hit a bunch of pine trees. There weren't donuts everywhere but it was the best smelling wreck I've ever worked in 14 years =).
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:LOLOL :funnypost
 
Mikeyc said:
Kripsy Kreme started to try and infiltrate New England back in 1999-2000. This is crazy since this is the home of Dunkin' Donuts. Sure KK donuts are WAY better than DD donuts, but most people go to DD for the coffee and non-donut food items now. Needless to say it's now 2007 and the last store that I'm aware of in New England closed within the last year or so.



From the articles I've read on occassion about KK, they had a lot more problems than just a Cambodian back lash or you not getting your coupons. For instance, the low carb (Atkins Diet) craze of a few years ago. There were numerous other problems they had some managerial and some socio-economical but I don't recall many of them.
Click to expand...



Back in the 60's/70's in Attleboro, MA just over the RI line, there use to be a Mister Donuts, maybe in the 80's until today. Are they still around? They were pretty good I remember.
 
I have one about a mile from my house, I will have to try them out. I usually do not go to donut places, well really I cannot recall going to one in about 30-40 years, LOL
 
Krispy Kreme was good. And there are times when i just craved for one donut. Its just like after The Simpsons movie was coming along, 7-11's began making some stores into Kwik-E-Marts. But they are doing pretty good.



Anyways, the Krispy Kremes located around my area closed down. Now they've become Chick-Fil-A which is good. I love their chicken clubs.
 
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