Krispy Kreme Returns to Ocean County Next Week After Long Absence

The forthcoming Krispy Kreme store in Lakewood, N.J., Route 70, Nov. 2024. (Supplied Photo)

Krispy Kreme, the multinational doughnut and coffeehouse chain, will return to the local area next week following a near two-decade absence from the region.

Having opened in Brick Township to massive fanfare in 2003 which required assistance from police officers to direct traffic backed up on Route 70, the former location in the Best Buy shopping plaza just north of the TGI Friday’s restaurant closed just two years later. It was eventually replaced by an Arby’s restaurant and today houses a Sleep Number mattress store.

The new location is also on Route 70, directly on the border of Brick and Lakewood in a former McDonald’s restaurant in the Town and Country shopping center, anchored by a Home Depot store. It is located just south of Shorrock Street (Beaverson Boulevard) and the Costco shopping center. The location at 1900 Route 70 in Lakewood is scheduled to open Nov. 12, 2024, according to JLL, a commercial real estate firm that manages the shopping plaza.

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A Krispy Kreme franchise group that currently operates Krispy Kreme locations in Paramus, Springfield, East Rutherford and Jersey City, signed a lease last spring for the 4,000-square-foot kitchen and retail store. The new location will offer indoor seating as well as a drive-through window.

“We are thrilled to bring this beloved doughnut shop back to the neighborhood after nearly 20 years,” said David Townes, a managing director with JLL. “Krispy Kreme is a dynamic addition to Town & Country Shopping Center’s retail experience, which accesses a significant population from its location right off of Route 70.”

The new store will be known as a “Krispy Kreme Factory,” featuring an updated conceptual design with a more efficient kitchen that can produce as many as 700 doughnuts per hour. The doughnuts will be made fresh on-site, and the kitchen will also be used to support the “export” of doughnuts to retail stores in the area.

The McDonald’s store that Krispy Kreme is replacing closed in 2018 after years in operation. It was heavily remodeled over the last six months. The Lakewood factory-store will feature a “glaze waterfall’ and conveyor belt, where doughnuts are made fresh right in front of customers.