ADVERTISEMENT

Krispy Kreme orders Minnesota college student to stop driving to Iowa to stock up on its doughnuts t

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
77,795
59,400
113
o resell in the Twin Cities:

An enterprising Minnesota college student who drove to Iowa every weekend to buy hundreds of Krispy Kreme doughnuts that he then sold to his own customers in the Twin Cities area has been warned by the confectionary giant to stop.

There have been no Krispy Kreme stores in Minnesota for 11 years.

Jayson Gonzalez, 21, of Champlin, Minnesota, would drive 270 miles (430 kilometers) to a Krispy Kreme store in Clive, Iowa, pack his car with up to 100 boxes, each carrying 12 doughnuts, then drive back up north to deliver them to customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

He charged $17 to $20 per box. He said some of his customers spent nearly $100 each time. Gonzalez said he did not receive a discount from the store in Iowa where he bought the doughnuts.

But less than a week after the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on his money-making scheme, Gonzalez received a phone call from Krispy Kreme's Nebraska office telling him to stop. The senior studying accounting at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul said he was told his sales created a liability for the North Carolina-based company.

In a statement Sunday night, Krispy Kreme said it's looking into the matter.

"We appreciate Jayson's passion for Krispy Kreme and his entrepreneurial spirit as he pursues his education," the statement read.

Gonzalez, also known as “The Donut Guy,” would have made his 20th run to Iowa on Saturday. He told his Facebook followers on Thursday that he has been told he has to shut down operations.

“Life happens, and it could be a sign that something else it meant to be,” Gonzalez posted.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/midw...0191103-2ogacfbejjdu5goz6odwtw2hju-story.html
 
Damn.

Marketing really turns people into sheep.

KK donuts that are "out of the store" are pretty crappy.
KK donuts fresh off the line, are rather tasty.

I recall when they opened up the first KK in San Diego, off Clairmont Mesa Blvd, and the line of cars was a quarter mile long to hit the drive thru. They coned off one entire lane of CM Blvd to handle the backlog of cars.

Funny thing was, if you just drove into the nearby mini mall area, walked 50-100 ft to the store, you waited <5 minutes AND they gave you a free fresh donut while you waited....

I remember walking in, eating my free donut and picking up a fresh dozen for work buddies, and the line of cars had moved up literally 2 cars. SoCal people REALLY like their cars and their drivethrus, and are far too lazy to just park and walk into the store. This was back in 2000/2001 timeframe.

Of course, I see the same thing here at the nearby Starbucks. 10+ cars will be in line; I'll park, walk in, get my scone and a coffee and be back in my car before 2 cars have gone thru the drive-thru. I remember one lady looking at me shocked that I could get my order in the time it took her to move up 15 feet.....
 
Of course, I see the same thing here at the nearby Starbucks. 10+ cars will be in line; I'll park, walk in, get my scone and a coffee and be back in my car before 2 cars have gone thru the drive-thru. I remember one lady looking at me shocked that I could get my order in the time it took her to move up 15 feet.....
I'm not a fan of Starbucks coffee but I get a lot for free so I go by there occasionally. They need to have a drive-thru devoted exclusively to people who want a cup of black coffee...hold all the damn fru-fru crap. Instead, I park, I walk in, order my coffee, they immediately hand me my cup, I'm out the door. Unless I get behind this a-hole...

i-think-ill-da28323b86.jpg
 
I remember the hype when they arrived here and I must say I got swept right away too.

Then I realized "This isn't a hole (bad pun) lot different than letting a sugar cube melt in your mouth." No thanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: THE_DEVIL
Funniest part is, this dude could probably save himself a LOT of time and driving by just buying off-the-shelf glazed donuts in Mpls, repackaging them in KK boxes and reselling them for a ~3000% markup....toss them in "warmers", and people probably wouldn't know the difference....
 
Funny thing was, if you just drove into the nearby mini mall area, walked 50-100 ft to the store, you waited <5 minutes AND they gave you a free fresh donut while you waited....

Same thing happened when they opened a Chick-Fil-A here in CR. Opened on the SE side and cars were waiting 60 mins in the drive-thru for their food. Westdale Mall had a Chick-Fil-A for as long as I can remember. Walk in the mall, go downstairs, get your food. I never understood why people acted like that was the first time they ever could get Chick-Fil-A in CR. We had it for better part of a decade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joes Place
Damn.

Marketing really turns people into sheep.

KK donuts that are "out of the store" are pretty crappy.
KK donuts fresh off the line, are rather tasty.

I recall when they opened up the first KK in San Diego, off Clairmont Mesa Blvd, and the line of cars was a quarter mile long to hit the drive thru. They coned off one entire lane of CM Blvd to handle the backlog of cars.

Funny thing was, if you just drove into the nearby mini mall area, walked 50-100 ft to the store, you waited <5 minutes AND they gave you a free fresh donut while you waited....

I remember walking in, eating my free donut and picking up a fresh dozen for work buddies, and the line of cars had moved up literally 2 cars. SoCal people REALLY like their cars and their drivethrus, and are far too lazy to just park and walk into the store. This was back in 2000/2001 timeframe.

Of course, I see the same thing here at the nearby Starbucks. 10+ cars will be in line; I'll park, walk in, get my scone and a coffee and be back in my car before 2 cars have gone thru the drive-thru. I remember one lady looking at me shocked that I could get my order in the time it took her to move up 15 feet.....
The best donuts out there are those from Kwik Star. Not even close, really.
 
This kind of reminds me (and may remind other old farts) about Coors beer. People would drive to Colorado and fill their trunk or pick-up with Coors and bring it back to Iowa. It was treated like nectar of the Gods.

Then, when you could drive to the store and get it, it was no big deal.
 
Same thing happened when they opened a Chick-Fil-A here in CR. Opened on the SE side and cars were waiting 60 mins in the drive-thru for their food. Westdale Mall had a Chick-Fil-A for as long as I can remember. Walk in the mall, go downstairs, get your food. I never understood why people acted like that was the first time they ever could get Chick-Fil-A in CR. We had it for better part of a decade.

Agreed. People in Iowa are really strange, like waiting in the drive-up for Popeye's even if your car was out on Blairs Ferry Rd. tying up traffic. Now, the place looks deserted most of the time.

I also remember a picture in the paper of a thousand or so people waiting in line the day Coral Ridge opened. C'mon - never been to a Mall?
 
This kind of reminds me (and may remind other old farts) about Coors beer. People would drive to Colorado and fill their trunk or pick-up with Coors and bring it back to Iowa. It was treated like nectar of the Gods.

Then, when you could drive to the store and get it, it was no big deal.

Yep, whenever someone went to Colorado, they always had to bring back some Coors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hawk_4shur
This kind of reminds me (and may remind other old farts) about Coors beer. People would drive to Colorado and fill their trunk or pick-up with Coors and bring it back to Iowa. It was treated like nectar of the Gods.

Then, when you could drive to the store and get it, it was no big deal.

sooooooooo basic supply and demand?
 
sooooooooo basic supply and demand?
That's part of it - but only part of it.

Simple S&D can explain higher prices, but there's also the psychological side where we convince ourselves that the beer or foreign car or whatever is actually better, seemingly, in part, because we pay more for it.

Cognitive dissonance is such fun.
 
Once he buys the donuts aren't they his to sell or eat or pretty much do whatever he wants?

How exactly can they shut him down?
 
  • Like
Reactions: SoFla-Hawkeye
If you nuke them for 5 seconds they're pretty good again. Not quite as good as in the store, but close.
 
Once he buys the donuts aren't they his to sell or eat or pretty much do whatever he wants?

How exactly can they shut him down?

My kid's senior class has a donut sale 1 day a week as a class fundraiser. They sell both KK and DD. Please don't tell the folks at KK as every donut sold is $$$ I don't have to out out for grad bash at Universal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cigaretteman
This kind of reminds me (and may remind other old farts) about Coors beer. People would drive to Colorado and fill their trunk or pick-up with Coors and bring it back to Iowa. It was treated like nectar of the Gods.

Then, when you could drive to the store and get it, it was no big deal.

HEYYY now.....

I do this with Toppling Goliath DDH PseudoSue:cool:
 
I have yet to find donuts as good as Herb’s Donuts were in the QC in the 1980s. I have long since accepted the reality that I will never taste their equal.
 
Have to admit I had to google that. Not a craft beer guy! :oops:

It's one of their better offerings that's not a "special release" you have to show up at the brewery for.

Google 'Medianoche WeldWerks' if you want to see other top-rated brews. Some of their Medianoche variants rank in the "World Class" category - alongside several Toppling Goliath options.
 
I also remember a picture in the paper of a thousand or so people waiting in line the day Coral Ridge opened. C'mon - never been to a Mall?

To be fair Coral Ridge at the time was 10x the mall that Old Capitol, Sycamore, Westdale, or Lindale could have ever dreamed of being. But I do understand your point and as I get older would never wait that long for fast food or a mall. I do miss Old Capitol though. That was a great mall when I was a kid. I could have spent a week in Aladdin's Castle
 
  • Like
Reactions: cigaretteman
This kind of reminds me (and may remind other old farts) about Coors beer. People would drive to Colorado and fill their trunk or pick-up with Coors and bring it back to Iowa. It was treated like nectar of the Gods.

Then, when you could drive to the store and get it, it was no big deal.

We used to do this with Michelob Golden Light. The can was ribbed and you couldn't buy it in Iowa. Only Minnesota. It was always such a treat. Then they started carrying it here and it became meh.
 
I do that once a year with Yuengling for friends/family in Iowa...

I've got a Yuengling supplier guy too. Now if anybody heading to Arizona wants to bring me a supply of Four Peaks Kilt Lifter I'd be set.
 
I have yet to find donuts as good as Herb’s Donuts were in the QC in the 1980s. I have long since accepted the reality that I will never taste their equal.

Where was Herbs? That wasnt the place over around 5 points in Davenport was it?
 
Where was Herbs? That wasnt the place over around 5 points in Davenport was it?
I wasn't aware of one in Davenport, but it's possible there was a location there. The two that I knew were one in Rapids City and one in East Moline. I think it was at 19th Street and Crosstown Avenue, where Uncle Benny's Gyro's is now.
 
I'm not a fan of Starbucks coffee but I get a lot for free so I go by there occasionally. They need to have a drive-thru devoted exclusively to people who want a cup of black coffee...hold all the damn fru-fru crap. Instead, I park, I walk in, order my coffee, they immediately hand me my cup, I'm out the door. Unless I get behind this a-hole...

i-think-ill-da28323b86.jpg
Dudes that look like that order a pour over. The order in the meme is made by some frosted-haired pudgy white chick in yoga pants and cute little Nike running shoes (guaranteed to never see any fitness activity), except the no whip part. Skinny, sugar-free, then extra whip.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: cigaretteman
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT