With a siren-wailing police escort, a truck full of doughnuts made its way to a Krispy Kreme construction site yesterday and loudly declared the arrival of a new competitor in Dunkin' Donuts territory.
The North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme is getting ready to open its first store in New England, an area that already holds almost 1,500 Dunkin' Donuts stores, 300 of which are in Connecticut.
The company held a groundbreaking ceremony at its Berlin Turnpike site Thursday, though ground has already been dug up and the frame of the store put in place. Dozens of people stood in the hot sun to listen to politicians praise the company and its signature glazed doughnuts.
Krispy Kreme usually creates a stir when it opens in new areas, and by the time a store turns on its "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign for the first time, people are lined up at the door.
"To be the first town to have a Krispy Kreme is so important," Newington Mayor Thomas McBride said.
The scripted agenda for Thursday's groundbreaking, which included a raffle and a performance by the Newington High School cheerleaders, was broken up by the arrival of the doughnuts in an armored car.
People rushed the truck to grab boxes of doughnuts, and the cheerleaders performed a dance number in the dusty lot with few people watching.
Christi Tilton and her husband, Jeff, heard about the event on the radio and decided to come over with Liam, their 1 1/2-year-old son. The couple, who live in nearby Wethersfield, say they're excited the store will be opening in early October.
"We're eagerly counting the days," Christi said.
A Rhode Island company is developing Krispy Kreme's New England stores. The next ones are slated for Cranston, R.I., Medford, Mass., and Milford, Conn. Nick Janikies, the head of The Jan Companies, said the company wants to build 100 stores in the region.
Both Krispy Kreme and Randolph, Mass.-based Dunkin' Donuts say they don't expect the presence of the other to cut into their business. Dunkin' Donuts said its focus is on its coffee and baked goods to accompany it, while Krispy Kreme says 90 percent of its business is selling doughnuts.