Krispy Kreme, the North Carolina-based chain of donut shops, is preparing to open its next New Jersey location in Union County.
The upcoming store will be located in a new 13,000-square-foot plaza at 25 Route 22 East in Springfield near the Union border. Construction on the 5,000-square-foot Krispy Kreme Doughnut Factory began last week, according to John Ponczek of the plaza’s broker, Blairstown-based JP Realty.
Customers will be “able to watch through the glass as the donuts are made and so forth, kind of like a car wash but with donuts,” Ponczek told Jersey Digs, adding that the store will include a drive-thru window.
The plaza will consist only of food-related businesses, with four of the other spaces being occupied by locations of Moe’s Southwest Grill, Carvel Ice Cream, 1000 Degrees Pizza, and a business called Poe Sushi. It is part of a larger 125,000-square-foot complex that will also contain a new 24 Hour Fitness. The facility already features a Sky Zone trampoline park and a Kiddie Academy preschool. Previously, the property contained an office building.
Ponczek expects that the Krispy Kreme alone will attract quite a crowd. The location will be the third in the New York Metropolitan Area for the donut shop chain.
“It’s going to be one of the biggest stores on the East Coast,” he explained. “They’re anticipating, from what I understand, over 100,000 donuts a day here at this location.”
A Krispy Kreme spokesperson did not return a request for comment. The upcoming Springfield outpost comes nearly two years after a store opened in Downtown Jersey City and as plans are in the works for a location in East Rutherford.
Construction on the Route 22 store is expected to be completed in around 90 days, according to Ponczek.
