Krispy Kreme chaos!

A NEW doughnut store in Blanchardstown has been forced to restrict its drive-thru hours after a surge in demand led to disturbances from waiting customers.

Most locals in Dublin 15 hadn’t heard of Krispy Kreme before the recent opening of its first Irish store in Blanchardstown but within a week some residents were deafened by the noise from its 24-hour drive-thru. 

Demand for the company’s doughnuts took everybody, including its management and staff, by surprise with hundreds queuing at 7am on opening day, September 26.

However, it was the 24-hour drive-thru that caused anger amongst locals with motorists forming lengthy queues in the early hours or the morning.

Some motorists took to mindlessly honking horns as they waited in queues that snaked around Blanchardstown Centre car park, keeping residents in nearby apartments awake.

The company initially tried to tackle the noise by installing signage asking drive thru customers to be respectful of neighbours.

However, after a week in operation and with no sign of the queues abating the company took the decision to restrict the drive-thru hours to the hours of 6am-11.30pm.

“We’ve listened to our neighbours and we’re making changes,” the company announced on its Facebook page.

“We’re working with Fingal County Council, Blanchardstown Centre Management, local Garda Traffic Corp and Community Liaison with regard to finding a long term solution that works for everyone.

“We anticipated a warm welcome for Krispy Kreme in Ireland and have long wanted to open a store here, but the response has been way ahead of our most optimistic expectations.”

Krispy Kreme apologised for the noise and described the response to the opening of its Blanchardstown store as “overwhelming”.

“The enthusiasm and smiles we’ve seen have been overwhelming,” a spokesperson said.

“But we know too that some of the enthusiasm from some drive thru customers has resulted in sleepless nights for our neighbours.”

The new Krispy Kreme Theatre store in Blanchardstown is one of the US based brand’s biggest outlets in Europe with a staff of 120 and capacity to seat 77 in-store. 

It was officially opened by Cllr Ted Leddy (FF), representing the Mayor of Fingal, Krispy Kreme CEO Richard Cheshire and Ireland Country Director Alex Drysdale.

“We are overjoyed to have people from all around Ireland share the excitement of opening day with us in our first ever Irish store,” said Drysdale.

“On day one alone, we have welcomed families, couples, friends and local workers stocking up on our delicious doughnuts for the office.

“We would really like to thank all those who joined us today and sent in their good luck wishes.

“We must also extend our gratitude to the local authority, our Blanchardstown neighbours and our incredibly hard-working Krispy Kreme colleagues who helped to make opening day a roaring success.” Michal Blaszczyk from Ongar was the very first customer in line on opening day. He had been queuing since 4am that morning to get his doughnuts.