- April 28, 2024
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After seven years, Donnie's Donuts has bid Ormond's beachside goodbye.
It was an emotional decision, said Donald and Patti Summerlin, the doughnut shop's owners. But one they were forced to make due to the rising cost of business insurance and the financial impact the 2022 hurricane season had on their business.
"We hate leaving that location," Donald Summerlin said. "It's not something we want to do."
The Summerlins announced the closure on Jan. 10 on the Donnie's Donuts Facebook Page, expressing that they were heartbroken to leave the store at 200 E. Granada Blvd., where they had operated from for the last seven years.
All of Donnie's Donuts' local operations have moved to the Daytona Beach store at One Daytona, located across from the Daytona Beach International Speedway at 225 Daytona Blvd. Suite R100. The couple is confident they will be successful at that location thanks to the support of their customers.
"Our whole philosophy from day one has been, we put our money in our product and our people," Patti Summerlin said. "When we have to start paying huge amounts for buildings, insurance and this and that and the other, then we take away from what our core is as well."
The Summerlins know they're not the only business that has struggled as a result of the 2022 hurricane season, which impacted the number of tourists on the beach. Hurricanes Ian and Nicole came through just a few months after Donnie's Donuts was ranked 12th in Yelp's Top 100 Donut Shops in the U.S.
As conditions continue to improve, the Summerlins wish their former beachside business neighbors success.
"[The beach] is beautiful," Donald Summerlin said. "It's gorgeous. The beaches are small, there's not as much, but it's the same beach."
And all businesses need to work together to get tourists back, the couple added. But they needed to make the best decision for their mom-and-pop doughnut shop, and that was consolidating operations.
"It's a very tough decision to make, but at the same time, we feel very positive about our shop in Daytona at the One Daytona complex," Patti Summerlin said. 'With Costco coming, we have seen growth in that plaza since that shop opened."
The Summerlins opened the Donnie's Donuts location at One Daytona in 2021. The store is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. They will also be adding delivery and online ordering, which applies to their location in Atlanta too.
And because the Donnie's Donuts location in One Daytona is open longer, doughnuts are baked fresh twice a day.
The response from the community on social media has left them "beyond words," Patti Summerlin said.
"We never could have gotten this far without them," she said.
Donald Summerlin said they still feel like they can serve the community — they're just consolidated in a different location.
"We're not going anywhere," Donald Summerlin said. "We're just a little bit further down the corner."
