quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Any Krispy Kreme stores in your area?

The closest KK is something like an hour or more away and the only one in the entire Metro area. Gas station around the corner used to get fresh KK donuts in each morning, but stopped doing that years ago.

No Chick-fil-A nearby, either.

I find all this mystifying. We live in a middle-class/blue-collar-ish, nominally conservative-ish area. It's not like a super-health-conscious lefties or dirt-poor/crime-ridden urban area.

Are we that far away from each other?

There's a KK on Southfield in Allen Park. Heck, there's one up in Troy, and that's just off the top of my head.

Also, there's a CFA that's opened up on the Dearborn/AP border. We've not been, as we've moved a bit further south towards Monroe.

quote:

Originally posted by ersatzknarf:
Are we that far away from each other?

There's a KK on Southfield in Allen Park. Heck, there's one up in Troy, ...

Looks likes there are a couple more around than last time I looked, but still none closer than 45 minutes to an hour away.

Yeah, I guess we are that far away from one another. I'm in the far NW ended of the Metro-Detroit area. As close to Flint as I am to Detroit, really. In fact: When visiting Canada, it's faster for us to take the Blue Water Bridge.

Now y'all are talking about my old stomping grounds, I grew up in Linden.

Are you wanting me to believe that in all of those small towns around you, there isn't a Mom and Pop bakery shop?

Oddly, DD is opening NEW locations near me, multiple locations in recent weeks.

KK, thankfully, is reasonably close, as is the only (that I’m aware of) local affiliate of a chain called Shipley’s Do-Nuts. So, so good.

And I agree with comments about supermarket bakery doughnuts - often those are not too bad.

As far as chains go, Shipley is pretty good.

They (so far) haven't let their recent rapid expansion interfere with their quality.

I miss Southern Maid donuts. I think they're still in business but nowhere near me anymore.

My nearest Krispy-Kreme is in Missoula , 141 miles away.

It is a pleasant drive on a rural 2 lane with a 70 mph limit, then the last several miles are I-90 at 80 mph.

I HAVE , especially oon one of the motorcycles, driven over just to get a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee. If we are in the area we seldom miss bringing a dozen home.

I've eaten exactly one Dunkin Donut in my life. Boston, 1998. It sucked worse than an industrial chemical-laden donut from 7-11. I never have been back. I don't understand the hype.

Now, hot, fresh Krispy Kreme glazed? I could pound a dozen of those myself, burning my hands on the hot oil and holding the donut out the window to cool it down a little while driving with the other.

And I have...

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:

all the donuts arrive in individual cellopane packages. Apparently a person used to be able to go in and just grab donuts with the tongs or plastic napkin thing and fill the box themselves. Not any more.
Given some of the behavior that I have observed, this is probably A Good Thing.

I grew up in a place that has an Italian deli on virtually every corner. Until very recently you fished your cracked olives out of a giant wooden barrel sitting out in the middle of the floor. Every old fireplug would stick her hamhock in there and fish a few out for the walk around the store. I for one am glad for the increased food security.

I've shared before, but I can offer a little insight after having helped one of our owners consider a DD franchise. I learned some things I'd otherwise have no clue about. Along with so much else!

First, the vast majority of their profit, if not revenue, comes from coffee. Their coffee is actually decent and part of that is attributed to some dictated very short hold time. IOW once a pot is brewed they have to sell it or toss it after something like 14, 17 minutes or the like. Sure some skirt that but this explains a lot.

Now the "doughnuts". Unless you are fortunate to be at one of their few locations that actually bakes and distributes these what you're getting is effectively a reconstituted hockey puck. This is the noun we used to refer to that product line throughout our evaluation and today.

Imagine boxes of compressed hockey-puck sized frozen bits of dough that arrive en-masse. Maybe a few different flavors, but this definitely explains why almost all their items are same consistency and the same shitty cake doughnuts.

Then when Mr. Timetomakethedonuts rolls in, at about midnight as it turns out, he feeds these things into what is similar to an oversized overpowered Easy Bake oven on a conveyer. On the other end out pops a shitty doughnut that can then have sprinkles, prepackaged icing or some other shit-on-shitty condiment piped over it. Put that on a tray, put in the display bin and that dude is home in bed before they open.

Uhhhhhh, no thanks.