One of the nation's fastest-growing chains of doughnut shops is expanding into Chattanooga with a new made-while-you-wait doughnut eatery scheduled to open before the end of the year in the Hamilton Corners shopping center in East Brainerd.
Duck Donuts, which specializes in serving warm, made-to-order doughnuts, is adding a franchised eatery next to the Bone Fish Grille restaurant on Gunbarrel Road.
The new 1,350-square-foot doughnut shop is being opened by a former Cleveland, Tennessee, middle school teacher and coach, Blake Beard, along with his father Kenneth.
"I loved teaching, but I always dreamed about having my own doughnut shop," Blake Beard said Wednesday while training for his new franchise business at the Duck Donuts headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
The Beards discovered Duck Donuts while vacationing three years ago in Williamsburg, Virginia.
"All of our family instantly fell in love with these donuts and loved watching them being made and customizing them according to your own tastes," Beard said. "We've been waiting since for the Chattanooga franchise for Duck Donuts to become available and when it did, we went after it."
Joe Ferguson cooks and prepares doughnuts made to order for its customers. A new shop will open in Chattanooga later this year. / Contributed photo by Duck DonutsDuck Donuts was founded in 2006 by Russ DiGilio in Duck, North Carolina, which is where the company derives its name. The chain, which expects to have 100 stores open by the end of the year, was started by DiGilio to solve a family vacation problem.
"Our family wanted a place to buy warm, delicious and made-to-order donuts, and when we couldn't find one, we decided to start our own," DiGilio said.
The concept has proven popular and since the company began franchising Duck Donuts five years ago, franchises have been awarded for more than 220 locations across 26 states.
The Beards also have an option to open a Duck Donut shop in Huntsville, Alabama, but for now they are concentrating on opening their first unit in Chattanooga. The new restaurant is expected to have a staff of about 25 to 30 employees and be open every day, although specific hours have not yet been set.
"It's a very unique process in which the customer can watch their doughnuts being made and then enjoy them warm and fresh," Beard said. "There's definitely nothing like it in our area."
The new owners have not yet set their menu prices, but the typical Duck Donut shop sells a single doughnut around $1.40 to $1.70 each with cheaper unit prices on larger orders. Duck Donuts also features breakfast sandwiches, English muffins and even a doughnut Sundae, along with a variety of coffee and other drinks.
Beard said the new location is well located near Chattanooga's biggest mall and along the heavily traveled Gunbarrel Road to draw many consumers.
"I don't think we could have got a better location," he said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.