The Krispy Kreme location in Midtown Nashville, which opened in 1995, permanently closed on Feb. 24. The location was a part of Rock Block, a strip of shops and music venues on Elliston Place recognized by the city of Nashville as a historic site.
In a March 1 email to The Hustler, Krispy Kreme spokesperson Cassie Williams attributed the closure to a shift in the national company’s business model.
“As we continue to implement our omni-channel model to better serve our guests and achieve long-term growth, we have closed our location at 2103 Elliston Place in Nashville,” the email reads. “It is a privilege to be part of the Nashville community and we are so grateful for our fans’ loyalty. We look forward to continuing to serve them at our other local shops.”
Sophomore Sieran Weatherly said they were upset over the location’s closing because of its convenience.
“I am very sad to see that Krispy Kreme is closing. I have a lot of great memories there, especially since it is just a short walk from campus,” Weatherly said.
Sophomore Morrigan Dunlap-Loomis echoed Weatherly’s sentiments, adding that another draw of Krispy Kreme was its low prices.
“I am so sad to see that Krispy Kreme closed because it provided good food for cheap prices and was very convenient for providing food for club meetings at a close location,” Dunlap-Loomis said.
In August 2022, the corporation announced plans to scale back and close stores around the country. During a November 2022 earnings call, Krispy Kreme executives reportedly discussed plans to shift the business model of the company from in-store production and net profit to a “hub and spoke model,” another term for the aforementioned “omni-channel model.” cq
A hub and spoke model is a distribution system in which stores are shipped pre-made products from “hubs,” or centralized production centers, as opposed to individual franchises producing their own products.
Although most store closures as a result of the production model transition occurred prior to the August 2022 earnings call, further closures and planned closures continued through the fall and winter.
“We expect to close seven more in 2023, largely in the first half of the year,” Charlesworth said during a February 2023 earnings call.
Two Krispy Kreme locations remain in the Nashville area: 408 Thompson Lane in South Nashville and 1901 Gallatin Pike North in Madison.
