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LANCASTER COUNTY
Doughnut maker adds flavor to competitive regional market
Doughnuts are big business in the U.S.
We eat more than 10 billion of them each year, and CNBC reports that Americans spend more than a half billion dollars a year just on convenience-store doughnuts. National chains blanket the country - Massachusettsbased juggernaut Dunkin' Donuts has more than 8,000 U.S. locations, while North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme has more than 1,000 - and local and regional chains add another layer of flavor to a competitive industry.
Enter Duck Donuts.
Founded in Duck, N.C., in 2006, the upand-coming chain opened its first Pennsylvania location last week in Lancaster County.
Is Manheim Township franchisee Todd Bidelman concerned about the competition? Don't bet on it. He believes that fresh, hot, custom-topped vanilla-cake doughnuts, created in front of customers' eyes behind glass viewing panels, will give the shop an edge over the mass-produced style.
"This is the most superior doughnut I've ever had," said Bidelman, who left a career in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to open the made-to-order doughnut shop in the Overlook Town Center.
Duck Donuts CEO Russ DiGilio agrees, and momentum seems to be on his side.
The company has grown from a family project into an up-and-coming chain...