Enter a classroom with a Shipley Do-Nut bag in hand and prepare to be flooded with glares. The sugary, airy and warm pastry from the most prevalent bakery in town warrants a jealousy any deprived sugar-tooth can muster.
This doughnut craze during the school year is positively affecting business citywide. Myriam Marquez, cashier for the newest bakery on Waco Drive, said the employees anticipate students’ business as the busiest time of the year.
“The school year is a big time for us,” Marquez said. “When all of the students come back to Waco, we see a lot more customers in here.”
Jim Seam, manager of three Waco Shipley locations said while they love to cater to the sugar-fueled desires of students, other Wacoans frequent shops just as regularly.
“Each of our locations serve a different client,” Seam said. “The Speight Avenue location obviously serves mostly Baylor students, but the other locations have their loyal followings as well.”
Seam’s other locations on Waco Drive and Valley Mills Drive deliver fresh doughnuts to the campus location because of its lack of a full kitchen. Marquez said the kitchen staff begins production at 2:30 a.m. every day.
“Our customers at the Waco Drive location are mostly families, parents on their way to work or high school students on their way to school,” Marquez said.
The glazed and chocolate frosted doughnuts are the most popular flavors across the board, Marquez said. However, unique to the campus location, students demand more frivolous options like kolaches, cherry-glazed and sprinkles.
“We try to keep up with the demand the students set near campus,” Seam said.
Doughnut recipes remain the same throughout all the Shipley locations in the nation, Seam said. The consistency is what keeps the customers coming back for more, Marquez said.
“I really enjoy all the flavors. There’s not one I don’t like,” Seam said. “ If I had to pick one, it’d probably be our classic glazed.”
Doughnut trends are shown throughout the nation to be rising among all other food competitors. A study conducted by the National Restaurant Association shows doughnut popularity to have risen by 12 percent in the past year alone, the highest percentage increase among other trends measured.
While Shipley Do-Nuts has more quantity over other shops in Waco, bakeries such as Jack ‘N’ Jill on New Road, Daylight Donuts in multiple locations and Donut Palace in Robinson have their cult followers, too.
“Jack ‘N’ Jill has been open since the early sixties,” said Margaret Kramer, office manager for Baylor’s department of journalism, public relations and new media. “They had multiple locations at the time.”
Kramer said Lloyd Warren owned the shop until he died in 2009.
“He was Waco resident devoted to making the city sweeter,” Kramer said. “Shipley didn’t come until later.”
