If you were looking forward to a Shipley Do-Nuts in Duluth, don't hold your breath. First announced in May 2022, the Duluth location was to have opened by the end of 2022 but never did. A separate franchise group ultimately opened metro Atlanta's first and currently only Shipley Do-Nuts location on Keith Bridge Road in Cumming in March 2023.
ToNeTo Atlanta has for months been trying to get confirmation on the status of the restaurant and was finally last week provided a vague answer to our inquiry from SPM Communications, Shipley's "communications" firm.
“Plans are currently on hold for our Duluth location. We continue to actively recruit well-qualified franchisees and have big plans for expansion in the Atlanta area and throughout the Southeast.”
Questions seeking confirmation on what exactly that means and if the location will ever open were, like our previous inquiries, not immediately answered.
A Google listing created for the planned Pleasant Hill location indicates it is "temporarily closed," despite having never opened. The Duluth location also remains listed on the Shipley Do-Nuts website where it is said to be "coming soon."
A source close to the planned Duluth location confirmed to ToNeTo Atlanta this week that Shipley Do-Nuts is in fact no longer opening and that several other quick-serve restaurants have expressed interest in the space.
Last May Houston, Texas-based Shipley Do-Nuts appointed Flynn Dekker as its new CEO. Dekker, who had previously served as Korean fried chicken chain Bonchon's CEO, succeeded Clifton Rutledge, who rejoined the company's board of directors. Rutledge, who was previously CEO of Bojangles, had served as Shipley's CEO since June 2021.
As for the Cumming location, nine of the last ten Google reviews left for the business are five stars with the tenth being a four. Sweet Donuts Investments Inc., owned by Oziel “Ozzie” Rodriguez and his wife Brenda, operate the Cumming location and have an agreement to open as many as five locations in the greater metro Atlanta area in the years to come. It's unclear what their current expansion plans are.
Have you been to the Cumming location of Shipley Do-Nuts? Where would you like to see Shipley Do-Nuts open next? Who do you think makes the best donut in metro Atlanta?
Please share your thoughts below.