Krispy Kreme in west Little Rock closes

After 15 years, Little Rock’s only Krispy Kreme has shut its doors for good.

Posters on the doors of the doughnut store's location at 1315 S. Shackleford Rd. read: “Regretfully this Krispy Kreme shop has permanently closed.”

The store’s manager, who was at the shop on Tuesday morning, said it shut down the previous day. He declined to comment further.

Krispy Kreme first opened its Shackleford shop on Feb. 17, 2004 to much fanfare.

While it was not the first Krispy Kreme to operate in the area — in the 1980s the business had locations on Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock and another on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in North Little Rock — residents had anxiously awaited the doughnut shop’s return.

“Our long statewide deep-fried deprivation nightmare is almost over,” the Democrat-Gazette’s Michael Storey wrote shortly before its debut.

“No longer need the faithful make the pilgrimage to Memphis to purchase the product,” he added.

A Krispy Kreme located at 1315 S Shackleford Rd in Little Rock closed its doors Monday, according to the store's manager

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article published the day after the opening reported that then-Arkansas First Lady Janet Huckabee showed up at 5:30 a.m. on the first day for the ribbon-cutting.

That day, the shop expected to sell 80,000 doughnuts, Richard Clements, a partner in the licensed franchisee, A-OK LLC, said at the time.

Gloria White, of Little Rock, was among those who arrived and, upon seeing the line, came back later. She said, though, that the Krispy Kreme sold the “best doughnut ever made.”

Emails to the company about the decision to close the business and whether they intended to open any new shops in Little Rock were unanswered Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, Little Rock-area residents seeking Krispy Kreme doughnuts will find the next closest location in Conway.