Why are there no Donut shops in Madison? (Janesville, Sun Prairie: food, kitchen)

[Chelito23]

Remember when Madison used to have Mister Donut? Dunkin Douts? Donut Delight? All of those places are closed now. Unless you go into a bakery, you won't find any donut shops. Why is that? Donuts seem as universal to me as fast food places. It is as if they never caught on here. The only reason I can chalk it up to is that there are a lot of good dinners, bakeries and bagel shops...but still, you would think we would have at least ONE donut chain. What do you all think, why is Madison donut-devoid?

[7G9C4J2]

I personally always thought that it was because none of the big chain donut places could hold a candle to the donuts that Greenbush Bakery down on Regent Street makes. I've never, ever had as good a donut at a Mr. Donut or Dunkin Donut as the wonderful donuts I've gotten at the 'bush.

[cheesehead1]

I totally agree. The Greenbush is one of the biggest things I miss from Madison. And I loved that they were open late...nothing's better than a fresh donut at bar time.

[gold*dust1]

Funny you should bring this up, as I myself have pondered the demise of all our sit down donut shops from years past. There used to be a good one on Sherman Ave. my mom would take me to on Sat am's. True enough we have some good pickings at bakeries, but Greenbush just isn't going to be convenient for everyone. You can't get a fresh donut at most bakeries past a certain time, and they often sell out.

Dunkin is thriving other places (as close as Janesville) and is even in combo format with 33 flavors, another extinct Madison chain. I much prefer Baskin Robbins ice cream to Chocolate Shop anyday.

It is something about Madison that irks me! They have a Culvers and a Kohl's on every street corner but we have lost and don't receive many good chains or non, and somehow imo, everything looks the same and we have lost our old fashioned charm (think Rennebohms, Badger Candy Kitchen).

[Chelito23]

It is true that Madison doesn't get a lot of the good chains, but then again, nowadays, everyone bashes chains and supposedly doesn't want them. I think Madison's redeeming quality is that there are a lot of good locally owned places and Culver's is one of our local chains that other areas envy. But there definantly seems a niche in the donut market that needs to be filled...but then again if Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme could't make it....who knows. I think they were just midmanaged and KK had bad timing though. As far as I recall, the donut places here always did a brisk business...and if just donuts don't cut it, why not multi-brand like they do in other cities? It is strange.

I also always wondered why we never could get a Long John Silvers here also, there aren't many seafood places locally and Friday fish fries are big...I think that chain would do well here also. There was also a thread lamenting the absence of Chick-Fil-A as well...

My last gripe is the lack of a cookie store in the mall. We used to have Original Cookies, but they closed years ago, and we can't get a replacement or a Mrs. Fields? I guess it's better for my waist that all of these places haven't moved in, lol.

[ryanj0]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

It is true that Madison doesn't get a lot of the good chains, but then again, nowadays, everyone bashes chains and supposedly doesn't want them. I think Madison's redeeming quality is that there are a lot of good locally owned places and Culver's is one of our local chains that other areas envy. But there definantly seems a niche in the donut market that needs to be filled...but then again if Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme could't make it....who knows. I think they were just midmanaged and KK had bad timing though. As far as I recall, the donut places here always did a brisk business...and if just donuts don't cut it, why not multi-brand like they do in other cities? It is strange.

I also always wondered why we never could get a Long John Silvers here also, there aren't many seafood places locally and Friday fish fries are big...I think that chain would do well here also. There was also a thread lamenting the absence of Chick-Fil-A as well...

My last gripe is the lack of a cookie store in the mall. We used to have Original Cookies, but they closed years ago, and we can't get a replacement or a Mrs. Fields? I guess it's better for my waist that all of these places haven't moved in, lol.

There was a Long John Silver's in Verona a while back. It was a combo with A&W... I think after that failed, we may be hard pressed to get a Long John Silvers. Chick-Fil-A is not very predominent in the midwest in general, so those chances are about as low as you get...

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by ryanj0

There was a Long John Silver's in Verona a while back. It was a combo with A&W... I think after that failed, we may be hard pressed to get a Long John Silvers. Chick-Fil-A is not very predominent in the midwest in general, so those chances are about as low as you get...

Really?? How long ago was that, I missed it

There are Chick-Fil-A's in Iowa so I figure they aren't THAT far away but I know what you mean, they aren't exactly ubiquitous around here, but there is always hope for expansion.

[Chelito23]

Yay!!! I just found out Mrs. Fields Cookies is coming to Madison Spetember 15th!!!

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

It is true that Madison doesn't get a lot of the good chains, but then again, nowadays, everyone bashes chains and supposedly doesn't want them. I think Madison's redeeming quality is that there are a lot of good locally owned places and Culver's is one of our local chains that other areas envy. But there definantly seems a niche in the donut market that needs to be filled...but then again if Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme could't make it....who knows. I think they were just midmanaged and KK had bad timing though. As far as I recall, the donut places here always did a brisk business...and if just donuts don't cut it, why not multi-brand like they do in other cities? It is strange.

I also always wondered why we never could get a Long John Silvers here also, there aren't many seafood places locally and Friday fish fries are big...I think that chain would do well here also. There was also a thread lamenting the absence of Chick-Fil-A as well...

My last gripe is the lack of a cookie store in the mall. We used to have Original Cookies, but they closed years ago, and we can't get a replacement or a Mrs. Fields? I guess it's better for my waist that all of these places haven't moved in, lol.

I appreciate that Culvers is headquartered in WI, but they are a chain like any other and do not deserve special godlike status in my mind. When there is one in Sun Prairie and Deforest, Verona, McFarland and Middleton, as well as countless Madison locations on every street corner it is too much!!!!! I am not ashamed to say I would like more of a choice in good chains.

It irritates me when people chain bash just to make themselves sound sophisticated as if they are smarter than others to only support local businesses. I am not speaking direclty to you Chelito, but quoted you to make some points off what you said. Some of the local Madison establishments are run by the same people and have very similar menus (how boring is that?) I am speaking of some local Italian places. The diversity in Madison is quite frankly not that diverse.

Someone is hogging the market in Madison. Bring in all the local establishments..that is fine by me...but there is plenty of room for some good chains. Podunk Janesville just got a Del Taco...WTH?! I used to love that place in CA.

SF is a good example of having little donut shops, quaint little old fashioned diners with flys buzzing around and waitresses that seem out of a CA Mels Diner script, many local establishments and some good chains mixed in. You can still feel like you are stepping back in time there.

Ahh well Madison is what it is.

[ranger17]

used to be a real nice bakery on Park St ( Lanes ? ); not sure if it's still there, but their cakes were excellent