Doughnuts
doughnuts

Remember Mister Donut?

This weekend my wife and I were rolling down the road, and somehow got to talking about doughnuts.  I know, there’s a shock!  I’m sure it had something to do with the fact that I’m watching my waistline and missing donuts.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I had one; It’s probably been 3 or 4 years.  I know it won’t surprise you that doughnuts have always been one of my weaknesses.

Having lived all over the country, I’ve never really had one favorite place to eat doughnuts, I’ve had many!  When I lived in Virginia Beach it was Krispy Kreme.  In Quincy, IL it was a local favorite called Dixie Cream Donuts.  And early on in life (in Cheyenne, WY I think) it was Mister Donut.  And that got me wondering about Mister Donut.  I hadn’t seen one in years.

Gone But Not ForgottenI remember hearing that they got taken over by Dunkin Donuts sometime in the late 80’s early 90’s.  I’m told that they used to have good coffee, but I don’t remember that.  I do remember that they had ice cold milk and some of the best jelly doughnuts around.  If I close my eyes, I can almost remember the last time I ate at Mister Donut.  It was in Lynchburg, VA back in about 1984 or 85.

So naturally once we got home I had to do some research into Mister Donut to exactly what happened.  Who knows, maybe I’d find a tribute site.  I couldn’t find one, but did find out that they actually still exist…. in Japan and the Philippines.  I guess I won’t be making a doughnut run to Mister Donut anytime soon…. Although, it would be a pretty cool trip!

Love That SignWhile searching the internet for info about Mister Donut, I did come across this great picture of a now long gone Mister Donut. Thanks to Darren Snow for posting it on his Flickr site.  Click on the pic to see it full size in Darren’s album.  Sweet memories!!

Doughnuts

Shuttered Stores

For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated with dead and dying shopping mall and retail outlets. Having worked in retail when I was in my teens might play into it, but I’m not sure.

When I have free time, I can get lost for hours online looking at sites like Dead Malls and the Sick Malls Blog.

It always surprises me when a major retailer shuts down one of their locations. Most, if not ALL of them do research on locations to make sure that there will be enough traffic to justify building there.

Lately, because of the economy I’ve seen a lot more locations shutting down and boarding up. Sometimes it’s due to a company going bankrupt (like The Cooker) but a lot of times it’s just the thinning of the herd. Here’s a few pics of some former restaurant/retail locations:

Waffle House

Waffle House

Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme

The Cooker

The Cooker

Jack In The Box

Jack In The Box