More than 15 years ago, the DeWeese family bought a small donut store in Memphis. Adhering to the founder‘s traditions and plenty of new ideas, they continue the success story of a local business.
Around midday, Louise Rooke generally sets out for an ordinary low-rise building in East Memphis, not far away from her home. She typically takes a seat at a large, wooden table. And allows herself a cup of coffee, as well as one of those ring-shaped pastries that are sold in there. And so is she doing this Saturday. She is wearing glasses and a patterned blouse under a light blue jacket. Her long, grey hair is tied back, bringing out her small, elegant earrings. Louise is 90 years old, but doesn't appear like that at all. She comes over to Gibson's Donuts almost every day. It has been a habit for ten years.
The family business has been known for its donuts for decades. Although or even due to the fact that nothing really changed since the store's opening, it can successfully keep up with large companies that also sell the popular fried dough. With a 24/7 service, some extraordinary donut creations, and a low price sale at night, the owners attract their customers from near and far.
Today is game day. The professional basketball teams from Memphis and Oklahoma City will meet in the local arena later this day. The upcoming sports event is already apparent in the stretched glass display in the store: Dozens of donuts are covered with yellow, dark and light blue sprinkles, the Grizzlies' team colors. "We sell these donuts whenever they play", says store owner Don DeWeese, wearing white shorts, a blue Grizzlies polo, having a full head of grey hair, and being all smiles. He is running around permanently, talking to all sorts of people coming in through the door. He obviously pulls the strings at Gibson's.
Tradition for decades
However, the donut store is a real family business. Don's son Britton has cooked in kitchens since he was 15 years old. He worked in restaurants, and cooked donuts for his father's store. Nowadays, he runs the company's day-to-day operations. He knows this donut place from childhood. "When I was a kid, I came in here every weekend, that was our tradition after church", says Britton, wearing dark green shorts, a belt with the Memphis Grizzlies' mascot as buckle, and the same blue fan polo as his father.
In 1996, when Britton was in high school and didn't imagine running a donut shop one day, his father bought the store from Lowell Gibson. Lowell founded it in 1967, at the very same place where the pastries are sold until today. "Mr. Gibson started having health problems, but didn't want to sell it to just anyone", says Britton. Don and Lowell were close, the former owner knew that his friend wouldn't change anything, and keep the store what it was.
To this day, the store's front solely consists of an old glass facade. Orange walls create a cozy atmosphere inside. Numerous picture frames tell the family's history, and show what they are proud of. Entering the store is like entering the DeWeese's living room.
Three hours to complete a donut
Behind the display's curved glass, plenty of donuts gleam on green, yellow and orange sheets that are stapled in four layers. A large glass panel brings out the kitchen in the back of the store. Some donut holes lie on the tiled floor, few of them trampled down. Flour hovers the air, as well as heated oil. The dough mixer struggles with a batch of mass that contains flour, yeast, water, among others. Two men hurry rolled out dough through a moulding cutter, that divides it up into single donut shapes. A load of apple fritter is frying. Completed donuts wait on stapled iron sheets in storage shelves to find the way to the shop in the front.
It takes around three hours to complete a normal, glazed donut. The cooks let their dough rise three times, only in the proofing box it sets about 30 minutes. But generally there are no strict recipes, because the combination of ingredients depends on different criteria, among them the weather. "The more humid it is outside, the less water will be in the dough", says Britton.
The Gibson's donut kitchen is busy almost all day. "We cook from about ten o'clock at night until two or three o'clock in the afternoon", says Britton. On average, their customers buy a little over a thousand dozen donuts in total - every day. Despite the multitude of varieties, the simple plain glazed donut, 66 cents each, is the most popular.
Loyal customers
During the daily peak time between six and ten o'clock in the morning, the line is so long sometimes, that people wait outside on the sidewalk. But also around midnight, the place is often packed full. "Because we put everything on sale from eleven to one o'clock at night, for 25 cents one piece", says Britton. Whatever is left over after that, will be thrown away, and the cooks start bringing out the fresh donuts.
Louise is still sitting at the wooden table. A couple of other people joined her, most of them are retired as well, like John, a former truck driver, and Jim, a chemical engineer. Louise worked as a ballet teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis for over thirty years, until she retired in 1989. In the middle of the 1980s, she first came to Gibson's. And remains loyal to it since then. "The people I am chatting with here, I met them all at this place", Louise says.
Regular customers like Louise and her friends make up a large part of the Gibson's clientele. "People in Memphis are very loyal to local products", says Britton. His donut spot is popular with people of all ages, for example with students from the nearby University of Memphis. Tourists and guests from afar are also among their customers. "We have people here from St. Louis, Chicago, or Florida", says Britton. Furthermore, there are hotel operators who pick up donuts every day, and schools that order the pastries for events.
No pecans at all
The DeWeese family doesn't fear big food chains or franchises like Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme. These companies run stores and coffeehouses all over the country, so in Memphis. Two years ago, a Dunkin' Donuts shop opened only three blocks away from Gibson's. Nevertheless, Britton doesn't see these giants as competitors for his small family owned store: "Comparing our donuts to Dunkin' is like comparing your Mom's homemade lasagna to frozen lasagna you bought in the grocery store."
There is an enormous mix of different donut varieties at Gibson's. Sometimes, customers ask for the pecan donuts. Those with the reddish brown bits in the sugar glaze. "But what people consider as nuts sometimes, are no nuts at all", says Britton. "It's bacon."
According to him, the bacon donut is probably the weirdest variety he ever created. "I actually made it as a joke." Three years ago, Britton took part in the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, that takes places in Memphis every year. "We eat barbecue all days, so I came up with the idea to make a bacon donut, and take it to my barbecue team", says Britton. "We didn't even sell them in the store at this time."
But people saw a photo of this creation on the Gibson's Facebook page, and started asking for it. "We got so many requests that I finally did it as a donut of the month, and it literally blew up on me", says Britton. The new variety survived a month, the bacon donuts are still part of the assortment. Today, the Gibson's cooks utilize around five pounds of bacon every day to make these kind of pastries.
Tasting new varieties
One of the shop assistants is refining a batch of red velvet donuts in the kitchen. With a scraper she takes some cream cheese out of a big bucket, and spreads it on top of the dark red, ball-like pastries. After decorating it with this white topping, she ranges it accurately on a green plastic tray.
The donut cooks at Gibson's create new varieties of donuts permanently. "Lemon New Orleans" is the current donut of the month. "This one is almost to the point where I might have to bring it permanently", says Britton, "because it is so popular." Britton started the donut of the month in order to try out different new flavors and toppings. In this way, the red velvet, the bacon, and the Oreo donut moved on from a monthly offer to a permanent place in the range of products. "I also think about doing a peanut butter and jelly donut", says Britton.
However, there is at least one person that the cooks cannot inspire with all these new varieties: regular customer Louise Rooke. Sprinkles or cream cheese do not impress her. Although she comes here every day, she remains true to her favorite type of the pastry: the simple, common chocolate glazed donut. "I never tried anything else", says Louise.
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