Mmmm… Donuts
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 24, 2000 9:00 p.m.
 DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Miroslava
Rebenczuk hands a bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to
Mauricio Medrano at the new doughnut shop in
Ackerman.
By Christine Byrd
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Used to be, one had to drive 20 minutes to get a Krispy Kreme
doughnut. But now, from south campus or north campus, they are just
a few steps away.
The grand opening of the Krispy Kreme was Sept. 20 at the
Cooperage in Ackerman and at Cafe Synapse in the Gonda Goldshmeid
building.
In the first two-and-a-half hours at the Cooperage, they sold
more than 106 dozen.
“I guess it’s not just the freshman who are going to
gain 15 pounds,” said Tiffany Jew, a third-year physiological
sciences student.
But managers expect the store to get even more business.
“As more are learning about it, it’s expected to get
busier,” said Jhezie Cabayan, general manager of Van Nuys
store, who was on hand for the opening.
Though the doughnuts are not made on-site, they are delivered
fresh from the Van Nuys store twice daily, Cabayan said. At closing
time, unsold doughnuts will be thrown out.
“They came in the morning, so they’re fresh but
they’re not hot,” said Barbara Grizzelle, a crew leader
from the Van Nuys store who helped with the grand opening.
At the Cooperage, the chocolate glazed were running out while at
Cafe Synapse, it was the custards that were flying off the
shelves.
Krispy Kreme, like other restaurants in the Cooperage, is
controlled by the Associated Students of UCLA Restaurant
Services.
“We get numerous requests to bring foods on campus from
students, faculty, staff and the community,” said Dave
Nirenberg, associate director of ASUCLA Food Services.
“There was a significant outcry for this
particularly,” he added. “We are always striving to
keep up with food trends and certainly Krispy Kreme is at the
cutting edge right now.”
The doughnuts will be available at the two on-campus locations
and through UCLA Catering Services.
Already, Krispy Kremes have been sold at the Rose Bowl for
football games.
“We sold 180 dozen in just three hours at the Rose Bowl
last weekend,” Cabayan said, referring to the UCLA- Michigan
game.
ASUCLA buys Krispy Kremes wholesale, but the association
supplies the employees, sets the prices and does not pay a
commission to the company.
This agreement is unlike that of Taco Bell and Rubio’s, in
which the association pays a commission on sales to the
restaurant.
“Any arrangement in which we are not paying a commission
is a good situation,” Nirenberg said.
The prices are set the same as at the home Krispy Kreme store,
but that by the dozen, they are slightly more, he said, but less
that at other small stores like the ones at USC, and CSU Long
Beach. A dozen at USC is $9, whereas at UCLA, it is $6.99.
To get the word out about the store, about 9,000 doughnuts were
given away in the two days before the opening to get the word
out.
At any rate, having a doughnut shop on campus is somewhat of a
novelty.
“To be honest, they weren’t anything out of the
ordinary,” said Michael Daines, an employee of the molecular
cell developmental biology department buying a doughnut at the
grand opening.
“But it’s better than Winchell’s,” he
added.
