COOKEVILLE – Plans – but no permits – have been submitted for a new-to-Cookeville food chain. Krispy Kreme, it seems, will be joining the donut ranks in Putnam County later this year.
City officials confirmed that paperwork has been received, and although it’s yet to issue any permits, Jerry Jackson, Cookeville plans examiner, said construction on the roughly 3,000-square-foot shop could start within the next few weeks. Krispy Kreme has the new Cookeville store, which will be located at 947 S. Jefferson Ave., sandwiched between Baskin-Robbins and Burger King, listed among its locations “opening soon.”
Jackson told the UCBJ the restaurant will seat about 32 people with a single drive-thru window. The contractor, Knoxville-based RTC General Contractors, has completed more than 10 Krispy Kreme projects including in Bowling Green, Ky., Johnson City, Madison and Farragut, Tenn. It built the Cookeville Bojangles’ on nearby Willow Avenue last year, he said.
This will be the first Krispy Kreme brick-and-mortar store in the Upper Cumberland. The closest current shop is in Smyrna. Once opened, it will join the ranks of Dunkin’ Donuts, Ralph’s Donut Shop and Big “O” Donuts, the latter two which carry their own local celebrity and have been city staples since 1962 and 1970, respectively. Dunkin’ Donuts opened in Cookeville in 2011.
Krispy Kreme, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., is on track to open more than 100 net new shops around the world in its fiscal year 2017, which started Feb. 1, including approximately 20 net new domestic franchise shops, and expects continued growth in domestic same store sales.