The wafting sweet smells of hot and fresh doughnuts can now be found in Auburn. Daylight Donuts opened its doors April 6 at 6 a.m. after having a test-run during the weekend where it distributed complimentary doughnuts to customers.
Vickie Springer, co-owner of Daylight Donuts, said she wanted to open a doughnut shop because her kids always complained about having to drive an hour to Columbus or Montgomery for doughnuts.
"My husband always wanted to move to Auburn, so there was no better time to go for it than when two of my children, now Auburn graduates, wanted to continue to live in Auburn," Springer said.
Daylight Donuts is a doughnut franchise founded in Tulsa, Okla., and now has over 900 locations.
According to its Web site, the company started in 1954 when Tommy and Lucile Day set out to create a new kind of doughnut mix with a distinctively light texture and flavor, and the Day's light doughnut recipe became Daylight Donuts.
Springer said the doughnut store was actually an Auburn tradition for many years, but in 1995 the former location closed when the man who operated the location eventually became the CEO of the entire company.
Now Auburn is welcoming back Daylight Donuts after 14 years.
Many students support need for a doughnut shop in the Auburn/Opelika area.
"I was very excited," said Jennifer Courtney, a senior in international business. "I always wanted a doughnut shop here, so it was really coincidental when this popped up like three weeks later."
Daylight Donuts employs six to 10 full-time employees that are divided into either servers and cashiers or kitchen staff.
The store remains busy throughout the day, and its busiest times are 6 a.m., when the doors open, until 9 a.m., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again after dinner until close.
The menu also offers endless doughnut options.
There are three basic types of doughnuts: glazed, cake and old-fashioned.
Toppings include chocolate, maple, orange, white glaze, cinnamon, powdered sugar, sprinkles, peanuts, coconut and pecans.
Fillings include creme, whipped creme, lemon, chocolate, black raspberry and cherry.
Other options consist of cinnamon rolls, fritters, tiger paws (Auburn's version of a bear claw), tiger tails, long johns and pine cones (a variety of the cinnamon roll).
Kate Brinkley, a freshman in English, said she visited Daylight Donuts for the first time, and her favorite doughnut was the chocolate creme.
"I like everything I've had so far," said Steven Shugarts, a senior in industrial design. "The tiger tail with cinnamon sugar was really good."
The doughnuts are reasonably priced at 79 cents each, a half dozen priced at $4.29 and a dozen for $6.99.
The tiger paws, pine cones, cinnamon rolls and fritters are $1.19. Tiger tails, long johns and bismarcks are 99 cents each.
Courtney and Shugarts plan to visit Daylight Donuts often.
"We came a couple of times when they were open over the weekend, before they officially opened, and brought a bunch of friends because we liked it so much the first time," Shugarts said.
Currently, Daylight Donuts is operating from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Once all of the operations are in place, the store will be expanding its hours to 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to satisfy the demands of students and the community.
In the future, lounge areas will be set up for studying and socializing, and televisions will be set up for dine-in customers.
Other additions will include an espresso machine to expand the coffee selection and a free Wi-Fi connection for customers.
The good news is, because of the lighter mix used, Daylight Donuts are lower in calories.
A glazed raised doughnut is 140 calories compared to the 200 calories found in its original glazed Krispy Kreme counterpart.
For more information on these sweet treats, visit http://www.daylightdonuts.com/.
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