Hot and Glazed in Halifax

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (Winston-Salem, N.C.), which came bursting out of the Southeast a few years ago to establish a national retail presence, has announced two new joint ventures for expansion into Eastern Canada and the New England market (Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut). The Canadian agreement marks the company's first major expansion plan into an international market.

The newly formed Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Eastern Canada, Inc. will be developing 32 stores over six years in Ontario, Quebec and the four provinces of Atlantic Canada – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. The KKDEC management team will include Roly Morris, previously a senior-level executive at Starbucks Coffee Co. who led the initial expansion of Starbucks in Canada (opening over 140 stores in both Eastern and Western Canada). Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. will have a 34 percent interest in KKDEC.

New England Dough, LLC, will develop 16 stores over the next five years in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It will be led by Nick and Bill Janikies, who as founders of The Jan Cos. are one of the largest developers of Burger King restaurants in the United States. The Jan Cos. also operate country clubs and various full-service restaurants in four New England states. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. will participate as a 49 percent equity partner in the venture.

Krispy Kreme has opened 11 stores since the third quarter ending Oct. 29, 2000, bringing the total new stores this year to 36. New stores opened in the fourth quarter include Bakersfield, Calif., Richmond, Va., Nashville, Tenn., Austin, Texas, Rochester, N.Y., Florence, S.C., Sacramento, Calif., New Orleans, San Diego and two in Chicago. The 63-year-old North Carolina-based company currently operates 175 stores in28 states.