Doughnut Fever Strikes the Valley
Southern California’s second Krispy Kreme doughnut store opened in Van Nuys Tuesday, drawing fans from as far as Mojave, 100 miles away.
Customers tied up traffic along Van Nuys Boulevard, packed the store for hours and shouted out in ecstasy when they finally got their hands on a piece of sugary, molten dough.
“There’s no way at all of explaining all this,” said Morris Tawil, a retired salesman who was discouraged by the two-hour wait at Krispy Kreme and left to go around the corner to Peter’s Donuts.
“A doughnut’s just a doughnut. I don’t get it.”
The La Habra store, where Krispy Kreme opened its first California franchise in January, has already sold a staggering 12 million doughnuts, the best performance of any Krispy Kreme store in the nation.
It’s owned by Great Circle of Family Foods, a Los Angeles-based family partnership that also owns the Van Nuys store.
“There are few things in life that are perfect, that live up to all the hype and expectation,” explained actor Scott Smith as he polished off a half box of Krispy Kremes. “These doughnuts are one of them.”
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