Wichita doughnut shop owners find perfect pair to take business over: 2 former employees
Five months after announcing their hope to find buyers for their longtime local doughnut shops and retire, Hervey and Marilyn Wright have found some.
What makes the deal even sweeter: The buyers are former employees who already understand the inner workings of the business.
Earlier this month, the Wrights turned over control of their Paradise Donut shops at 10607 W. Maple and downtown at 612 E. Douglas to Melina and John Abney. The young couple, who both started working for the Wrights at Paradise around 2015, each were stationed in both the front and back of the shop, where they learned about food production, store management and customer service.
They left in 2019 — Melina to study accounting at Wichita State University and John to work in contracting. Melina saw the story that Dining with Denise published in May about the Wrights’ desire to sell the shop and move to Ashland and spend more time with their grandchildren and approached her husband with the idea of taking the business over.
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“We’d always played with the idea of possibly owning a place, and it might have come up in conversation when we worked here,” John said. “Then it just became really real.”
The two couples worked out a deal, and papers were signed on Oct. 10.
The Abneys have already instituted some changes. They’ve signed up with DoorDash, and soon, people will be able to have Paradise doughnuts delivered to their homes or offices. They’re also planning to expand the shop’s non-doughnut breakfast options and will soon begin serving biscuits and gravy — something the Wrights used to do.
The couple has also started getting their coffee from local roasters and said they may implement other changes in the future. For now, they’re getting established.
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Marilyn Wright said she and Hervey approve of the changes — many of which they’d considered making themselves over the years — and feel that the shop is in good hands with their former employees.
“This is exactly what we were looking for,” she said. “Someone with the youth and the energy to take it to the next level.”
Wichita’s first Paradise Donut opened in 2010 at 3107 W. Central and was owned by Steve Trask. The Wrights opened their west-side shop in 2014 and eventually took over Trask’s store as well. They closed the Central location in 2018 and moved it to 612 E. Douglas, right across the street from Naftzger Park downtown.
Marilyn Wright said she will continue to serve as a consultant and adviser as needed as the Abneys get used to running the business.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 1:33 PM.
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