Dreamcast18
10-17-2006, 11:48 PM
http://www.dailymail.com/story/Business/+/2006101716/J.R.+is+king+of+his+donut+castle/
I would so use the Prowler to deliver donuts...instead of the PT Cruiser.. :wink:
J.R. is king of his donut castle
Kris Wise
Daily Mail Capitol reporter
Tuesday October 17, 2006
PARKERSBURG -- In the 29 years he's owned his little donut shop, J.R. Parsons has taken one vacation.
Other than Thanksgiving and Christmas when he shuts his doors, Parsons shows up for work at 9 a.m. and leaves at midnight. Every single day, including weekends.
"If I didn't, I don't know how I'd make it," Parsons says. "These little mom-and-pop places, I don't know how they do it relying on a manager. No manager is going to take care of it like you do. She's my baby, and I'll be the one to take care of her."
Parsons' baby is J.R's Donut Castle, a little shop with five booths, one round table and about a dozen bar stools lined up in front of a glass display case where the jewels of J.R's castle are arrayed.
There are the usual bestsellers: the chocolate cake donuts, the glazed donuts and the maple cream sticks, which all happen to be J.R.'s favorites, too.
Then there are the gooey goodies that might be unique: "Yum-yums," made mostly of butter and, well, more butter; chocolate radio cakes shaped like old time radios and glazed in rich fudge sauce, and cinnamon bear claws.
J.R.'s menu is not big. Besides coffee and donuts, an old-fashioned rotisserie by the cash register churns out hot dogs, and in the back kitchen, racks and racks of J.R.'s specialty pepperoni rolls are usually baking up. The rolls were just last month named best in the state by the Mountaineer Messenger.
But in a city where even the oldest and most popular homegrown restaurants and stores have recently started shutting their doors, it would seem none of those things is enough to explain how J.R.'s has stayed above the fray and is still successful after three decades in business.
Other donut shops have debuted and quickly shut down.
The Castle's only locally owned competitor in the Parkersburg area is the small donut chain called McHappy's, owned by the same pizza and pasta connoisseurs who run Napoli's Italian restaurants.
Parsons owns just one little shop on one of Parkersburg's business avenues, where he spends his days and years.
Don't let the small size of the place fool you.
Sales, to say the least, have been good, and the customers have been good to Parsons.
The former truck driver and part-time pastry baker now drives around town in one of his three vehicles: a Hummer, a pricey Plymouth Prowler and a P.T. Cruiser he uses when he's helping deliver donuts.
The donut shop, where Parsons met and married his co-worker Darlene 23 years ago, also has helped Parsons put his two sons through college. The oldest is in the pre-med program at West Virginia University and the youngest is at Fairmont State College waiting for the day when he can take over his father's business.
"He loves it, too," Parsons says proudly of his son, who started helping out at the donut shop with his brother when he was 12 years old. "I was hoping one of them might want to take it over one day."
It takes some prodding, but Parsons finally remembers how it was he came to be king of the Castle, to own the place where he began working as an employee in 1973 when the shop opened.
At the time Parsons was 23 years old, driving a beer truck by day and making donuts by night.
The late shifts were always the best part of his day.
"I loved it then, and I still love it," says Parsons, who still spends most of his time pulling dough and popping donuts in and out of ovens.
After just four years in business, the old owners began itching in 1977 to sell off the shop.
They financed the sale of the Castle and handed over the reins to Parsons, who jumped at the chance to get into business for himself.
He now reaps the rewards of making more than 300 dozen donuts a day, delivering most to more than 50 groceries, convenience stores and industrial plants all around the state.
This year the shop is going to make a record 500,000 pepperoni rolls, many which are sold to school systems around the state for sale in student cafeterias.
"For some reason it just works," Parsons says of his small-scale shop and big-scale delivery concept.
It also might be Parsons dedication to the business that helps inspire the same kind of loyalty in his customers.
"I'm sure he's bound to get tired, but if he does he never shows it," says Carolyn Yeargo, who has worked out front in the shop for 13 years. "He never complains. He just finally leaves."
Carolyn is part of a crew that has stuck with the Donut Castle almost as long as J.R.
"We have regulars who move out of town and come back for a visit, and I can still tell you what they drink, how they take their coffee and what they want on their hot dog," says Susan Bee, who's baked donuts and breads for the shop since 1987.
Parkersburg resident Don Hoover is considered one of the regulars, but not one of the "regular regulars," Parsons jokes. Those are the people who show up at the shop every day, rain or shine.
Hoover only find himself on a bar stool at Donut Castle three or four times a week.
He has a hot dog, a cup of coffee and then treats himself to one of the sticky sweets behind the display case.
"The donuts just seem fresher here," Hoover says.
I would so use the Prowler to deliver donuts...instead of the PT Cruiser.. :wink:
J.R. is king of his donut castle
Kris Wise
Daily Mail Capitol reporter
Tuesday October 17, 2006
PARKERSBURG -- In the 29 years he's owned his little donut shop, J.R. Parsons has taken one vacation.
Other than Thanksgiving and Christmas when he shuts his doors, Parsons shows up for work at 9 a.m. and leaves at midnight. Every single day, including weekends.
"If I didn't, I don't know how I'd make it," Parsons says. "These little mom-and-pop places, I don't know how they do it relying on a manager. No manager is going to take care of it like you do. She's my baby, and I'll be the one to take care of her."
Parsons' baby is J.R's Donut Castle, a little shop with five booths, one round table and about a dozen bar stools lined up in front of a glass display case where the jewels of J.R's castle are arrayed.
There are the usual bestsellers: the chocolate cake donuts, the glazed donuts and the maple cream sticks, which all happen to be J.R.'s favorites, too.
Then there are the gooey goodies that might be unique: "Yum-yums," made mostly of butter and, well, more butter; chocolate radio cakes shaped like old time radios and glazed in rich fudge sauce, and cinnamon bear claws.
J.R.'s menu is not big. Besides coffee and donuts, an old-fashioned rotisserie by the cash register churns out hot dogs, and in the back kitchen, racks and racks of J.R.'s specialty pepperoni rolls are usually baking up. The rolls were just last month named best in the state by the Mountaineer Messenger.
But in a city where even the oldest and most popular homegrown restaurants and stores have recently started shutting their doors, it would seem none of those things is enough to explain how J.R.'s has stayed above the fray and is still successful after three decades in business.
Other donut shops have debuted and quickly shut down.
The Castle's only locally owned competitor in the Parkersburg area is the small donut chain called McHappy's, owned by the same pizza and pasta connoisseurs who run Napoli's Italian restaurants.
Parsons owns just one little shop on one of Parkersburg's business avenues, where he spends his days and years.
Don't let the small size of the place fool you.
Sales, to say the least, have been good, and the customers have been good to Parsons.
The former truck driver and part-time pastry baker now drives around town in one of his three vehicles: a Hummer, a pricey Plymouth Prowler and a P.T. Cruiser he uses when he's helping deliver donuts.
The donut shop, where Parsons met and married his co-worker Darlene 23 years ago, also has helped Parsons put his two sons through college. The oldest is in the pre-med program at West Virginia University and the youngest is at Fairmont State College waiting for the day when he can take over his father's business.
"He loves it, too," Parsons says proudly of his son, who started helping out at the donut shop with his brother when he was 12 years old. "I was hoping one of them might want to take it over one day."
It takes some prodding, but Parsons finally remembers how it was he came to be king of the Castle, to own the place where he began working as an employee in 1973 when the shop opened.
At the time Parsons was 23 years old, driving a beer truck by day and making donuts by night.
The late shifts were always the best part of his day.
"I loved it then, and I still love it," says Parsons, who still spends most of his time pulling dough and popping donuts in and out of ovens.
After just four years in business, the old owners began itching in 1977 to sell off the shop.
They financed the sale of the Castle and handed over the reins to Parsons, who jumped at the chance to get into business for himself.
He now reaps the rewards of making more than 300 dozen donuts a day, delivering most to more than 50 groceries, convenience stores and industrial plants all around the state.
This year the shop is going to make a record 500,000 pepperoni rolls, many which are sold to school systems around the state for sale in student cafeterias.
"For some reason it just works," Parsons says of his small-scale shop and big-scale delivery concept.
It also might be Parsons dedication to the business that helps inspire the same kind of loyalty in his customers.
"I'm sure he's bound to get tired, but if he does he never shows it," says Carolyn Yeargo, who has worked out front in the shop for 13 years. "He never complains. He just finally leaves."
Carolyn is part of a crew that has stuck with the Donut Castle almost as long as J.R.
"We have regulars who move out of town and come back for a visit, and I can still tell you what they drink, how they take their coffee and what they want on their hot dog," says Susan Bee, who's baked donuts and breads for the shop since 1987.
Parkersburg resident Don Hoover is considered one of the regulars, but not one of the "regular regulars," Parsons jokes. Those are the people who show up at the shop every day, rain or shine.
Hoover only find himself on a bar stool at Donut Castle three or four times a week.
He has a hot dog, a cup of coffee and then treats himself to one of the sticky sweets behind the display case.
"The donuts just seem fresher here," Hoover says.