Edinburgh Krispy Kreme looks to open all night

By JOHN-PAUL HOLDEN
Published on 27/02/2013 09:53

THE Capital’s new Krispy Kreme doughnut store is set to cash in on its popularity after lodging an application for permission to trade through the night.

Doughnut lovers will be able to pop into the US chain’s Hermiston Gait store – Scotland’s first – at five in the morning if council chiefs approve its bid for a late-night catering licence.

There’s no reason to suggest it will not find a thriving late-night trade, with hundreds queuing for up to two hours to buy doughnuts when the shop opened earlier this month.

Tailbacks for the drive-through service stretched hundreds of metres through the retail centre’s car park and past a roundabout on the edge of the city bypass.

Despite early problems, locals said they were relaxed at the prospect of all-night trading, noting conditions had quietened since the store opened on February 13.

Betty Milton, chair of Sighthill Community Council, said: “At the moment we’re laid back but keeping an eye on it.

“The first few days were utterly chaotic, horrendous, and I know that police were called.”

Krispy Kreme’s store is open between 7am and 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and 8am and 10pm on Sunday.

However, approval could see doughnut fans popping in between 11pm and 5am to get their fix.

Ms Milton added: “Things seem to have calmed down, and I do not see Krispy Kreme bothering too many people where they are. They are out in the
middle of nowhere.

“Knowing how much the kids like it and the taxes Krispy Kreme will be paying, maybe it’s even a good thing.

“But I cannot honestly understand why anyone would want a doughnut at four o’clock in the morning.”

Councillor Nigel Bagshaw, Green transport and planning spokesman, warned against “creeping” towards a concentration of development on the edge of the city.

“Thirty years ago when some of the out-of-town shopping centres were being planned, there were warnings of Edinburgh becoming a ‘doughnut city’, where development is concentrated on the outskirts, creating real problems with access and extra traffic,” he said.
“We are not there yet, thankfully, but we need to be very wary of gradually creeping towards that point and the example of an out-of-town doughnut attraction adding to the problem is a touch ironic.”

He added: “I’m not sure that nipping out to Hermiston Gait for a 5am doughnut is a top priority for most folk in the city or that even if you walked there and back you’d burn off even half the calories you’d have taken in.

“In any case, there are plenty of local shops serving the same thing, so why make the effort?”

A council spokesman said: “An application has been received and will be considered in due course.”

Krispy Kreme UK was contacted by the Evening News but declined to
comment.