Beginning of Krispy Kreme
When most people think of Krispy Kreme they automatically assume that the famous Krispy Kreme Doughnuts were developed in Winston-Salem. However, that is not the case because the famous recipe for the doughnuts came from a French chef. The French chef was named Joe LeBeau and he sold the recipe to Ishmael Armstrong in Louisiana in 1933. Armstrong hires his 18-year-old nephew, Vernon Rudolph to sell doughnuts door-to-door. In 1935, Vernon’s father, Plumie Rudolph bought the doughnut business from Armstrong. Plumie, along with his sons Vernon and Lewis opened shops in Nashville, Tennessee, Charleston, West Virginia, and Atlanta Georgia.
In the summer of 1937, a young 21-year-old Vernon Rudolph took off to Nashville, Tennessee with three friends and had hopes of starting their own doughnut business. The foursome traveled around the United States with only $200 to locate a place that could jump-start their business. Legend has it that “Rudolph fished a pack of Camel cigarettes out of his pocket and absentmindedly read the label. The cigarettes were made in a place called Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the home of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company” (Kazanjian & Joyner, 2004). It has been stated that Rudolph said that Winston-Salem had to be a good bet because “a town with accompany producing nationally advertised product has to be a good bet” (Adler, 2002).
By the time they made it to Winston-Salem, they just had $25, which was “just enough to rent a building on Winston-Salem Main Street, across from Salem Academy and College” (Taylor, 1998). They had to borrow the first set of ingredient from a local grocery store to make their first batch of doughnuts. They loaded up the first batch and sold them to local grocery stores, where they made enough money to pay back for the borrowed ingredients. Soon after people started coming up to the retail store because of the amazing smell from the doughnuts. This lead Rudolph to sell doughnuts, for five cents for two, through a walk up window at his retail store. Within ten years, they turn that one store into seven shops throughout the south, where they sold their doughnuts to retail customers, wholesale buyers, and grocery stores. Krispy Kreme officially became a corporate company in 1947.
In the summer of 1937, a young 21-year-old Vernon Rudolph took off to Nashville, Tennessee with three friends and had hopes of starting their own doughnut business. The foursome traveled around the United States with only $200 to locate a place that could jump-start their business. Legend has it that “Rudolph fished a pack of Camel cigarettes out of his pocket and absentmindedly read the label. The cigarettes were made in a place called Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the home of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company” (Kazanjian & Joyner, 2004). It has been stated that Rudolph said that Winston-Salem had to be a good bet because “a town with accompany producing nationally advertised product has to be a good bet” (Adler, 2002).
By the time they made it to Winston-Salem, they just had $25, which was “just enough to rent a building on Winston-Salem Main Street, across from Salem Academy and College” (Taylor, 1998). They had to borrow the first set of ingredient from a local grocery store to make their first batch of doughnuts. They loaded up the first batch and sold them to local grocery stores, where they made enough money to pay back for the borrowed ingredients. Soon after people started coming up to the retail store because of the amazing smell from the doughnuts. This lead Rudolph to sell doughnuts, for five cents for two, through a walk up window at his retail store. Within ten years, they turn that one store into seven shops throughout the south, where they sold their doughnuts to retail customers, wholesale buyers, and grocery stores. Krispy Kreme officially became a corporate company in 1947.