New owner of the Donut Whole is a familiar face

What started as a bankruptcy filing turned into a business deal for two well-known Wichita businessmen.

Now, Abdul Arif and his partners in GSD Holdings are the new owners of the popular Donut Whole.

"I have a great abiding interest in legacy businesses ... because I'm a product of one," says Arif, who started Alterations by Sarah in 1982 when he was 20.

Friends connected Donut Whole owner Michael Carmody with Arif, a lawyer who has been on something of a business buying spree recently.

In November, Carmody told Have You Heard? he was looking for a buyer for his decade-old business on East Douglas near Hydraulic.

"I came to the point where it was obvious I was going to have to declare bankruptcy," Carmody says.

He faced a series of problems in recent years that weren't the standard ones afflicting most small-business owners.

A formerly close friend, Curt Mitchell, murdered Carmody’s friend and business neighbor, Tanya Tandoc.

A few months later, their mutual friend and Carmody’s business partner, Angie Mallory, died. Mallory had handled the financial side of the Donut Whole.

"He basically couldn't keep up," Arif says. "No human being can keep up with those kind of catastrophes. That would be so hard to manage."

Arif referred Carmody to another lawyer to handle the bankruptcy so he then could proceed to buy the business.

"I recognized the value, and I knew people who'd be very interested as investors," Arif says.

He points to the Donut Whole's 27,000 followers on Facebook to show some of its clout.

"That is a feat."

Arif says he'll make some minor adjustments but keep the business as it is — meaning the cake doughnuts with fanciful decorations will stay the same.

"It's a unique business," he says. Arif says Carmody "captured a segment of the market that will never go to Starbucks."

Arif offered Carmody a percentage of the business.

"I told him I need him," Arif says.

Arif says he didn't want to take advantage or have the appearance of taking advantage of someone in financial distress.

Also, Arif says he wants Carmody "to help us with his ... secret sauce for making doughnuts."

Carmody is helping Arif with some marketing and social media for his various businesses but hasn't decided on a Donut Whole role.

"We're still talking about how it all might shake out, but they're very generous with their offers," Carmody says. "Abdul has been very good to work with."

Arif's nephew, Tariq Azmi, will run the business.

"He's my partner at Passage to India and at Huddle House also," Arif says.

Other partners include Betul Soykan, assistant professor of violin at Wichita State University;Susy Ellis of Monica's Bundt Cake; and Emmanuel Kolluri, a software developer.

Although Arif says he has a strong team, he hopes Carmody will be part of it.

"We feel it's the right thing to do. It's his idea. It's his baby."

This story was originally published May 28, 2018 at 2:51 PM with the headline "New owner of the Donut Whole is a familiar face."