Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Opens in La Habra

East Coast bakery chain Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Corp. opened the first of 42 planned Southern California stores in La Habra, plunging into a region with the nation’s highest number of doughnut shops per capita. “There are 1,600 doughnut stores in Southern California. To us, that shows demand,” said Roger Glickman, president of Great Circle Family Foods of Los Angeles, which is building and operating all Southland Krispy Kreme franchises. Glickman said he’s counting on fresh, hot doughnuts and exhibition-style doughnut making--in which workers make the round, fried dough pastries in front of customers--to differentiate Krispy Kreme from the well-established Winchell’s Donut House and other local doughnut shops. In addition to its Southland stores, which are projected to take about six years to complete, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme plans to open about 30 stores in the Bay Area. The expansion is part of privately held Krispy Kreme’s plan to open one store for every 100,000 U.S. families, said Jack McAleer, head of brand development. The next stores to open will be in Orange, Van Nuys and Ontario over the next six months. Krispy Kreme doughnuts are already sold in area supermarkets.