More people are eating out today than ever before—especially in Fresno. The restaurant industry predicts people will spend $536 billion this year, with $54 billion in restaurant sales in California alone. Fresno folks eat out more than most. The city is often used as a testing ground for new fast food products.
However, their taste for 24-hour sweets has wavered. Last night, I bought the last dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts made in Fresno.
Ordinarily, I am quick to look at business closures, pointing out management inefficiencies in relation to poor team building or customer relations. With Krispy Kreme, I see no obvious flaws in this area. The decision to close the Fresno store was a monetary one. The store was packed when it first opened a few years ago, but eventually the new wore off, and Fresnans went back to mom-n-pop-shop sweets and Mexican food.
Krispy Kreme started as a family business in 1937 after founder Vernon Rudolph obtained a recipe for a year-raised doughnut from a French chef in New Orleans. The company went public in 2000. Although one of Rudolph's first locations was in New Orleans, his corporate office has always been in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The board there simply looked at the numbers and closed three California stores.
This morning, my wife and I are micro-waving the last of our KK's. In a few moments, they will be gone—and Krispy Kreme in Fresno will be no more.
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