Lincoln Spoor, president of L&L Enterprises and Krispy Kreme area developer for Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, has always had an affinity for baked goods. Maybe it's in his genes. His dad was the CEO of Pillsbury when Lincoln was growing up, and he made his first doughnut at age nine using Pillsbury Poppin' Fresh Dough and has been captured by the pastry rings ever since.
Lincoln actually began his career with Bank of America in the heart of Manhattan's Financial District, traveling the country as manager of their high-yield investments. Wherever he traveled he sought out doughnut shops, always looking for the best glazed doughnut.
Then, in 1992, during a trip to Washington, DC, he visited a Krispy Kreme store in Alexandria, Virginia. It was love at first bite. He knew right then and there that he had to introduce Krispy Kreme to the West.
The only problem was Krispy Kreme had no immediate plans to expand that far outside of the South.
Heartbroken but undeterred, getting the Krispy Kreme franchise for Nevada and Utah became Lincoln's mission. His persistence paid off -In March of 1997, he was granted rights.
A location for the first store was selected, at the corner of Rainbow and Spring Mountain in Las Vegas. After months of architectural redesigns and construction delays, the store opened on March 3, 1998. Well, it didn't open as much as it exploded onto the Vegas scene. By the official opening time of 5:30 A.M., there was already a long line of customers standing outside the doorway and sitting in the drive-thru. By 8 A.M., there was a 45-minute wait in line for doughnuts and police were directing traffic in the street outside. By Midnight, 70,000 doughnuts had been sold in one day. That was a new Krispy Kreme record.
Fast forward to the present. Krispy Kreme is still a phenomenon in this part of the country, with 8 stores in Nevada, 3 in Utah, and one each in Idaho and Montana. So if you still haven't discovered what the Glaze Craze is all about, maybe it's time.