Last area Krispy Kreme closes its doors
Move ends love affair that started in 2000
The Krispy Kreme “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign has been permanently extinguished in Western New York.
Cheektowaga-based Dynamic Doughnuts pulled the plug on its Walden Avenue Krispy Kreme retail outlet at the close of business Saturday, ending the Buffalo area’s nearly eight-year love affair with the sweet treats.
The closing of the store at 2021 Walden Ave., which housed the company’s wholesale bakery operation, means Krispy Kreme doughnuts will no longer be available anywhere in Western and Central New York. Dynamic closed its only other Krispy Kreme shop on Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Town of Tonawanda in August 2006.
Some two dozen Krispy Kreme employees are affected by the shutdown. Representatives of Dynamic did not return phone calls Monday regarding the weekend closure decision.
Earlier this year Cosentino Cos., Dynamic’s parent firm, put the prime Walden Avenue location on the market with a $2.9 million price tag seeking a sale/lease back deal.
Real Estate broker Michael Palumbo, of Rochester-based Flaum Management Co., confirmed Monday the property is still available as a straight sale. The site is located directly across Walden Avenue from the Walden Galleria retail center.
Dynamic, one of several franchisees around the United States which has the rights to produce and sell the South Carolina-based company’s confections, has faced growing competition from the Tim Horton’s and Dunkin’ Donut chains. The local franchisee previously closed retail operations in Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.
The company will continue to operate Krispy Kreme stores in Florida.
Dynamic triggered a sugar high in the Buffalo area when, in October 2000, it opened the first local Krispy Kreme store on Niagara Falls Boulevard. Area residents’ cravings for the sweet, gooey glazed doughnuts caused traffic jams and long lines of customers for months after its debut.
It was a similar mob scene when the Walden Avenue shop debuted in mid-2002, and Dynamic moved into wholesale distribution of the brand name doughnuts in 2003, making the baked goods available in area Tops supermarkets, Wilson Farms convenience stores, Dash’s markets, and other retail outlets.
Wilson Farms spokeswoman Kim Tylec said that chain, which continued to carry Krispy Kreme baked goods through last week, is rolling out its own “Fresh ’n Ready” line of doughnuts and other baked goods.
Tops and Dash’s had previously replaced Krispy Kreme with their own in-house bakery items.
Cosentino Cos., lead by Cheektowaga businessman James Cosentino, has a lengthy resume of operating hotels and restaurant across upstate New York and in Florida, dating back to the 1970s. In recent years its portfolio has rapidly shrunk, with sales of most of its hospitality properties.
The local company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its group of 19 TGI Friday’s restaurants last fall, last month sold off 16 of those properties.
