Monday, March
1, 2:38 AM PST
Krispy Kreme Sending U.S. Stores to India,
China
by Brent
the Johnson,
NA!P NewsWire
WASHINGTON D.C. -- In the face of a recovering but jobless
economy, Krispy Kreme has announced it will begin opening retail
outlets in India and China while closing them in the U.S.
"It's really just a matter
of numbers," said Scott Livengood, President and
CEO of Krispy Kreme. "No one's getting work because it's
all being sent offshore, so they aren't buying our doughnuts
at the astronomic prices we have to charge."
Krispy Kreme indicated that
wasn't the only reason for the U.S. closures, however, pointing
out that the cost in savings will help improve customer sales.
"We used to charge $0.75
per standard unit," said CFO Michael Phalen. "Now people
can get them for $0.28 per. If we can produce the same high-quality
product at a much lower price, we can pass those savings on to
our customer base. It's really win-win, you see."
Fans of Krispy Kreme, however,
are infuriated with the company's move and are complaining loud
and clear.
"If they think I'll continue
to spend my money on them foreign-ass doughnuts, they got another
thing coming," said Chet Maxfielder of Dallas. "Even
if I have to got to go to Dunkin' Donuts to get my Jelly Filleds."
Livengood admits to being inundated
with hate mail from doughnut fans, but he's standing his ground.
"You know, California makes
us pay $6.75 minimum for freakin' doughnut slingers! Indians
will do it for five cents an hour -- you do the math."
Furthermore, even if the company
loses some of their customer base, they expect to make up for
them with millions of new Indian and Chinese customers. Still,
if the reaction of their hardcore U.S. fans are any indication,
Krispy Kreme has nothing to worry about.
"I'll have to fly to get
my daily dose of Original Glazed," said Kent Warblenach
of Chicago, a long-time fan who recalls having to drive over
state lines to get his Krispy Kreme pastries before the chain
went national. "That, or FedEx them. Yeah, I'll probably
FedEx them sometimes."
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