Dallas devours new doughnut delight

Not a lot of people knew where freshman Paul Downey was last night. Downey and some of his friends spent the night on Greenville Avenue beneath the brand new “Hot Now” sign.

“Hot Now” isn’t some new club on Lower Greenville, it’s the neon sign that has called out to sugar cravings since 1937. Downey spent the night outside of the new Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, the newest and only store location in Dallas.

The doughnut chain celebrated the grand opening of the Greenville store at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Downey was the first customer there and took extreme measures to claim that title.

Amanda Taylor, an employee of McGill Associates, the public relations company that handled the event, spent Monday afternoon passing out free doughnuts to fraternity and sorority houses and a few SMU student organizations. Taylor was surprised to find someone waiting for her immediately after her trip.

“I came back with a co-worker and about 20 minutes had passed since my last delivery,” Taylor said. “There was a guy standing in line. He was just sitting up against the wall getting ready for the night.”

Franchisee and owner of the new location, John Orrell, was not surprised by Downey’s zeal.

“It’s kind of like people used to follow the Grateful Dead around and go to all their concerts,” Orrell said. “We have a following of people that want to be first in line, so they come camp out.”

Downey was the first of many, many customers that began to funnel into the white and green building before dawn. With the late acquisitions of Krispy Kreme and Central Market, the Lovers and Greenville intersection has been transformed in the past two years.

“The traffic on Greenville and Lovers is just the market we’re looking for,” Orrell said. “I think we’ll do as much business at night as we will in the morning because this is a late-night area.”

The Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce was instrumental in the opening. The city is excited about the rejuvenation of the area.

“It brings a variety, something different that hasn’t been here,” said Tony Montgomery, membership consultant for the chamber. “It revitalizes this area, which is what we need here. It brings jobs, it brings diversity and different types of food.”

By 9 a.m. the restaurant had served customers originally from France, England, Australia and Germany. Employees celebrated first-time diners’ “magic moment,” the first time someone tastes a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Deni Rudey of Dallas had a simple reaction.

“That is good,” Rudey said.

Downey’s magic moment was one that he spent nearly 12 hours waiting for. He received the grand prize, a dozen doughnuts per week for a year.

Orrell, who works with two partners with 75 collective years of experience with the company, fondly recalls his magic moment.

“I still enjoy them as much now as I ever did,” Orrell said.