Krispy Kreme — Restaurant in Hickory

visited Krispy Kreme yesterday with my children, who were excited to pick up donuts for Mother’s Day. They had their hearts set on getting the special holiday-themed options along with the classic glazed, but unfortunately, there were no Mother’s Day donuts available. While that was a letdown, I understand that availability can vary.

What truly disappointed me was the quality of the glazed donuts we did receive. Frankly, I’m still wondering—how do you get glazed donuts wrong? These tasted cold, stale, and as if they had been sitting out for hours—possibly even days. They lacked the signature warmth and freshness Krispy Kreme is known for. In fact, I could’ve easily gotten fresher donuts from a grocery store like Walmart or Publix.

This isn’t my first disappointing visit to this location, but I gave it another chance based on my previous experiences living in Florida. The Krispy Kreme locations I frequented there consistently delivered fresh, warm, and delicious donuts. Even just two months ago, my visit back home reminded me of how exceptional the brand can be when quality is prioritized.

I seriously considered returning the box for a refund, but my kids were so eager to enjoy the donuts that I let it go. Sadly, this will likely be my last visit to this particular location. While there’s a Dunkin' nearby, my family avoids it for similar reasons. Instead, I’ll be making the slightly longer drive to Donut Life—where I’ve yet to be disappointed.

I want to be clear: the staff was friendly and the location was clean. My issue lies solely with the product. I sincerely hope this store takes steps to ensure better quality control moving forward. Krispy Kreme built its reputation on freshness and excellence, and I’d love to see this location live up to that legacy again.

Best of luck in your...

Dear Krispy Kreme Store Manager and/or Franchisee:

(TLDR: Donuts yesterday were a bad value, expensive, cold and stale little pieces of sadness in dough form.)

This is going to sound harsh but let me first state my reasoning. Around 20$ for a dozen specialty donuts, (as you can see from the picture, they were taste tested by my family) is very much expensive for a chain these days. Rivaling the price of local donut places such as Donut Life now, so that's one reason I am being harsh but honest. Second reason being, I think donuts being a pleasure food not a food typically consumed for sustenance and well-being it should be delicious as that is it's one and only good quality. In fact, being a high calorie food that in itself is a sacrifice I make to eat something that should give me enjoyment.

Your donuts yesterday did not give me enjoyment. Honestly, I was sad, sad that you were not a good value as you used to be and sad that my donuts were COLD after being carried out of the store and not only that they were stale. STALE! How do you make Krispy Kreme stale? I have had Krispy Kreme in the past on my counter for 2 days and it still was fluffy. What in the world? Did the lady sell me 3-day old donuts? For 20 dollars? Who knows? I can only speculate. I like to be relatively healthy and have donuts as a treat once in a while, but you let me down, and I have a long memory. Please get your store in order so you can bring happiness to other people, not sadness. Donuts should be fun & warm not...

I called in a special order yesterday to the Hickory North Carolina shop off exit I 40 exit 126. First they told me they can’t get powdered sugar for cake donuts second I special ordered four white cake donuts with chocolate sprinkle icing to go into a mixed dozen donuts box. The man taking the order said Okay. I called this morning before picking up my donuts and asked the lady if they had the donuts. She said yes. We drove 30 minutes to go pick them up. That was the only reason for the special donuts because Krispy Kreme thinks that nobody eats cake donuts for some reason. Then the cashier gets our box. He was going to sell it to me with no cake donuts in it they replaced two of the cake donuts with glazed and had it 2 donuts short. He was going to sell it to me like that but I had asked him to open it so I could check it before I paid for it. We’re getting used to horrible customer service now after the pandemic everywhere. Is there a reason why Krispy Kreme does not want to keep cake donuts on hand? You all put the cream frosting on your glazed why can’t you do that to cake also? In California they sell mainly cake donuts because they’re so good. Hopefully I can find a good Dunkin’...