Despite a viral post making the rounds on social media, there are no plans to put a Krispy Kreme store in Whiteville in the near future.
“Currently, the brand does not have plans for a shop there,” said Liv Weller, Krispy Kreme spokesperson, in an email Wednesday (today).
Whiteville Planning Director Robert Lewis said that there have been no requests for permits or submission of building plans for a Krispy Kreme shop.
A Facebook post by a Whiteville resident on Tuesday gained more than a hundred shares in less than 24 hours. The post – which is still being shared – claimed without attribution that the famed North Carolina doughnut creator would be moving to Whiteville.
The company’s website says Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937 in Old Salem, N.C., when Vernon Rudolph began selling simple glazed doughnuts to grocery stores. Rudolph cut a hole in a wall of his bakery to begin selling doughnuts to passerby. By the 1940s, Krispy Kreme shops began opening shops throughout the South, all using the same recipe and processes. Devotees know when the latest batch has been finished by the neon “Hot” light in some store windows.
The first shop above the Mason-Dixon line opened in New York in 1996, and by 1997, Krispy Kreme’s iconic “Hot” light was shining in stores across the country. There are more than 700 Krispy Kreme Stores in other countries as well as hundreds in the United States.
Krispy Kreme was one of the possible franchises mentioned when officials speculated about new development opportunities along the U.S. 701 Bypass in Whiteville. Current population and traffic counts, however, do not meet the company’s requirements.
