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And the neon fades to black

Three area Krispy Kremes, including one on
Gulf-to-Bay, close unexpectedly. Why is uncertain.

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published July 7, 2006

CLEARWATER — That smell. Remember? Driving down Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard with the windows rolled up and A/C blasting. Didn’t matter if a tub of chili cheese fries sat languishing on the passenger seat.

That smell wafted over traffic lanes, penetrated car doors.

Then the driver would see it: the big boxy pastry haven with the neon lights and sign that was like a siren, tempting the strong and weak-minded alike.

Hot Doughnuts Now, the sign read.

No more.

The lone Krispy Kreme in Pinellas County closed this week, eliminating the scent of glazed, yeast-risen doughnuts that overpowered some morning commutes.

Two other area Krispy Kremes — Tampa’s Dale Mabry location and one in New Tampa — were also closed Monday morning, catching at least some employees by surprise as they reported to work.

Executives at Gulf Florida Doughnuts, Krispy Kreme’s local franchise, decided to close the three locations after “we re-evaluated our position” in the area, said Jeane Bly, the company’s director of operations. She did not get specific.

“We don’t comment on customer count or sales,” Bly said.

Once formidable, the nation’s fried-dough supplier since 1937 has recently hit some big-business snags. Chief executive Scott Livengood was ousted last year. Stocks were already slumping. Experts say it didn’t help that Livengood blamed the declines on low-carb dieting trends.

Bly said what happened in the bay area was “purely a local decision and had nothing to do with what Krispy Kreme was doing.”

Clearwater’s Gulf-to-Bay store opened four years ago on a brisk morning in March, spurring a curious kind of food fanaticism.

Two brothers camped out the night before, wanting a piece of doughnut culture and the right to say they had first bites. The temperature was 42 degrees when an employee unlocked the doors at 5 a.m. People stood by with blankets, jangling coffee cups.

Thursday afternoon, there was just heat and an empty parking lot. Brown paper covered the store’s windows. Jeff Morton, a St. Petersburg firefighter, drove up and walked toward a sign taped to the door. It told customers to visit Krispy Kreme’s three remaining locations in Hillsborough County.

“I don’t think so,” Morton said. After he left, a woman in a Ford Taurus pulled up. She left the car running.

“I feel the way they did us is wrong,” Eileen Turner said.

Turner worked at the Krispy Kreme for two years, manning cash registers and giving schoolchildren tours of the factory-style bakery, she said.

Turner, 36, has five children of her own, and now has no job.

“They didn’t give us no notice, no nothing,” she vented. “It was devastating to a lot of employees.”

Bly, of Gulf Florida Doughnuts, said 13 of the 43 Krispy Kreme workers affected by the three closings were offered jobs at other locations.

Turner was not one of them.

“They shut us down,” she told a man who pulled up in a shiny Dodge Ram.

Could this be another befuddled customer? Try Robert Keller, president of Rek Realty.com  in Largo, attempting to figure out who owns the building.

“I have a couple of clients who would be interested,” he said.

Turner’s eyes were shiny with tears.

“It’s all right,” she said. “God shut this door, God will open another door. We will go somewhere where someone appreciates us.”

She left after informing three other customers that “they shut us down,” at once apologizing and thanking them for being patrons.
Then came Billy Malitsis. He got coffee here every other day, usually stopping by at 8 in the morning before driving to work in St. Petersburg.

“What happened to it?” he asked, staring at the papered-up windows.

He hears. He absorbs the news for a second.

“They were not really busy, I guess,” he said. “So, you know.”

Just then, another customer pulled up. She walked to the locked doors.

Are they closed? the woman asked Malitsis.

“Yeah,” he told her. “There’s no more Krispy Kreme on this side of town. Huh.”

[Last modified July 7, 2006, 22:12:03]