Photos: Concord's Krispy Kreme is Back in Business

Four years after Krispy Kreme shut down the doors to its Concord factory store, the business officially returned to town under a new leadership model Tuesday.

"When we closed it was a corporate store, now it's a franchise operation," said Sarah Tebbett, who manages the Northern California stores owned by Hot Glazed Enchantment. 

The store closed in 2007 after a down economy and a series of financial issues at the corporate level led to the filling of bankruptcy, shutting down operations throughout the nation.

After the hiring 85 locals to run the Concord store, the assembly-line started cranking out donuts and doors were officially opened Tuesday morning, where some customers had been waiting in line since Monday morning, according to store representatives. 

The first 12 customers received free donuts for a year; One dozen per week and the second set of 12 also received a year's worth of donuts, but a dozen per month, according to the store. 

"We don't like to see the loss of jobs that came with the bad economy," said Concord Mayor Ron Leone after Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "... the recovery is slow, but we're seeing a nice trend of rebuilding. That's what this [reopening] is."

Contest

updated Wednesday, April 25, 11:25 a.m.

The first five readers who commented this story and contacted Concord Patch via email won a one-time-use-only coupon for one dozen glazed donuts, each. 

This contest is no longer active. Thank you to those who played along!

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