This photograph taken on December 4, 2023, shows doughnuts at Krispy Kreme during a press preview at a restaurant in central Paris. The first Krispy Kreme restaurant of the US multinational Company, will open in Paris, on December 6, 2023. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Donut brand Krispy Kreme is due to open its first Northern Ireland unit at Victoria Square Shopping Centre
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 13: Doughnuts are displayed for sale at a Krispy Kreme store on February 13, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Krispy Kreme Inc. today announced expected double-digit price increases in response to commodities and labor cost pressures. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company’s stock price fell by as much as 10% earlier after earnings guidance for the full year missed analysts’ estimates. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 23: Confectionery workers at the store Krispy Kreme on December 23, 2023 in Paris, France. The American food chain specialising in donuts has just opened its very first store in the heart of Paris, launching the advertising campaign “Macaron Resignation”. A first step for the chain, set to expand throughout France with the opening of further points of sale in 2024. (Photo by Ameer Alhalbi/Getty Images)
Popular donut chain Krispy Kreme is planning on opening its first Northern Ireland location at Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast, according to reports.
In a development first reported by the Irish News, a planning application for a shop sign from the company’s head of acquisitions, Vincent Healy, has been lodged with Belfast City Council.
The application notes that the company intends to open in unit 37 on the upper ground floor of the shopping complex. It states the shop sign will relate to the premises where it’s to be displayed.
The business has 15 stores in the Republic of Ireland, with units in Galway, Cork and Limerick the most recent openings.
A US brand, Krispy Kreme has gained a huge fan base over the border, which it will hoping to replicate in Northern Ireland.
It has developed specific Irish-themed donuts, like a St Patrick’s Day product, even launching a limited edition First Communion-themed sweet treat featuring a white chocolate cross earlier this year.
Jamie Dunning, former UK and Ireland president, told the Irish Independent in March: “The Irish consumer’s relationship with the donut is stronger than in the UK so it’s a stronger marketplace, relatively speaking.
“The familiarity to the brand is inherently stronger here,” he said.
It opened its first Irish store in Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin six years ago, and it immediately broke global records.
First-day and first-week sales in Blanchardstown remain the highest of any store worldwide. Blanchardstown continues to contribute about a third of all Irish sales.
Earlier this year, Guy Meakin was appointed president of Krispy Kreme UK and Ireland.
Krispy Kreme and Victoria Square have been asked for comment.
News Catch Up – Thursday 5 December