The Krispy Kreme in Matthews, at 9301 East Independence Boulevard, has been closed since February for a complete renovation. The store is set to reopen on Friday, July 19, at midnight.
The Winston-Salem-based company is offering prizes to lure people to the rebuilt store. The first customer in line gets a dozen free doughnuts per week for a year. The next 99 people also get a dozen free doughnuts per month for a year, as well as "a commemorative Krispy Kreme Matthews T-shirt." Note that these prizes exclude the drive-thru, so don't assume you can wait in air-conditioned comfort listening to your radio.
Building permits issued by Mecklenburg County show the shop cost $629,000 to build (and the old one cost only $7,000 to demolish - cheaper than I would have guessed).
And if you need instant notification of fresh Krispy Kreme availability, you can download the Hot Light App for your phone. Here's the app's description:
On a road trip or stuck at the office daydreaming about the mouth-watering goodness of a Hot Original Glazed® Doughnut? Never miss another opportunity to get a Krispy Kreme doughnut Hot…Now...off the line.
With Hot Light Online you can map your nearest Krispy Kreme location from your phone and get alerts when the neon glow of "Hot Now" is activated in your area. So lookup, download or tweet your way to find a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut near you with any of the following free options.
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There WAS a time when I would have waited all night for a KK doughnut. There was a time when lots of folks in Winston-Salem did. In those times, there were no "Hot Now" KK stores scattered around the country, only the ONE big brick bakery in downtown W-S. It didn't seem like they really wanted to sell direct to the public back then. Their business was bulk deliveries via KK trucks to supermarkets and lunch counters around the area. The public sales were thru a single metal door around the side of the building marked by a small sign designating it and the hours. Hours BEGAN at 10:30PM and IF you wanted "Hot & Nows", you were there. So many folks lined up to await the opening of that door at 10:30PM. It had the air of a speak-easy about it. The was on advertising - you just had to KNOW. You should understand that W-S had retractile sidewalks that folded up at 9:00PM, so this took no small effort on the part of those craving KKs product. Fortunately, my father was one of those so driven and he took me along. Inside that door was a small, plain counter were you could place your order. Ordering was simple - orders were confined to even dozens and 1/2 dozens - none of the fru-fru of today. BUT what you GOT was directly from the Pearly Gates! There was NOTHING like it! It MELTED in your mouth - dissolving into a combination of sweetness and yeastiness and mommas love and puppies kisses and I don't know what else. It was not bread, it was not cake. Did I say it was like nothing else? And it was pure bliss!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, those KKs of old had a shelf life of about 6 hours. In those days, before microwave ovens, a KK had to be eaten HOT for that taste of heaven. My father and I usually consumed half our load in the car before leaving the parking lot.
I'm sure that the owners of KK were painfully aware of the short shelf life of their product and bit by bit they jiggered the product recipe to make it possible for more people to enjoy it's goodness. The medium scale factories they built in Charlotte and other cities were not bad efforts - they did a respectable job of creating the product of old.
Unfortunately, Wall Street called and worked their magic and things have not been the same since.
I never knew why it closed down. I didnt see an issue with the previous store.
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