This past week, Krispy Kreme suddenly and unexpectedly closed its two Houston-based locations, 5603 Hwy 6 N, Houston, TX 77084 & 8611 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77063. These closures come after years of spotty operation, with multiple changes between franchisees. Long-time Houstonians may remember that Krispy Kreme’s first go in the Houston market ended in 2006 after litigation with their franchisee. Krispy Kreme vowed to come back, and by 2013 were shooting for 10 Houston stores over the next 5 years. The first two stores would not end up opening until late 2015 and would end up being the only two locations built within Houston City Limits. While a third location was planned for the South Loop, it was abandoned mid-construction. The DFW-based franchisee would end up selling all of their stores, including the Houston locations, to the Austin franchisee, who would continue to expand push, this time aiming for the suburbs. At this point, Houston retains three suburban Krispy Kreme locations in Katy, Humble, and Pearland. The Baytown and Pasadena locations shut down in 2018 and 2021, respectively.
This was so upsetting, I live in Pasadena, TX and eat thrilled to have one! Lines out to the street for drive-thru but 2 battles were year… 1) People love their local donut chains here (people would tell me KK was too sweet; have you tasted a Shipley donut??!!)…. 2) the owners hired it unhappy and incompetent people constantly… Service was horrible a lot of the time. It was sad and kept people away. The franchisee owners thought these places would ruin themselves? KK corpirate obviously doesn’t know how to train and support franchise owners of their stores. You go into good KK stores elsewhere they’re handing out free donuts in line, running to help people, smiling, and are successful. Why not here?!