Emerging chains flip from growth mode to survival

Pinkbox Doughnuts, CEO Stephen Siegel

The current crisis has created plenty of challenges for Las Vegas-based Pinkbox Doughnuts. But the three-store chain is still focused on growth.

All 10 units that were in development pre-pandemic continue to move forward, CEO Stephen Siegel said.

“Of the ones we’re working on now, several are drive-thru locations, which is going to help us even more,” Siegel said. “These things are unfortunate, but we won’t let it stop us.”

Pinkbox’s regular business has not dropped, but its wholesale business has dwindled, Siegel said. So the doughnut chain has devised some new options to boost sales.

The restaurant has added a DIY doughnut decorating kit.

“That’s done extremely well while kids are home,” he said.

And the chain’s efforts to hand out free doughnuts to first responders, more than 15,000 so far, has yielded lots of positive social media posts.

Pinkbox is slowly starting to develop its own delivery operation. And it is using its in-house sales department to help with larger orders to hospitals, assisted living centers and deliveries to individual employees from larger businesses.

The bakeries are handing out doughnut menus so customers can look at them while they wait in (socially distanced) lines and speed the ordering process once inside the stores.

“We have added four more doughnuts to the 60 doughnuts we carry all the time,” Siegel said. “We don’t want people standing there. Normally, we’d have a line inside the store.”