Shipley Do-Nuts, the fresh daily do-nut brand, has signed a multi-unit franchise agreement with MLD Hospitality LLC, to open five new locations across the city.
MLD Hospitality LLC, founder and former Orlando resident, Michael Burns, will initially open five locations in the Orange County area, with the first opening at 5919 S. Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando in Q4. It will make for the fourth Shipley location in Florida after Bradenton, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Though the deal is for five units, Burns believes the area could sustain up to 50.
Burns learned about the brand when he moved to Houston and his wife wanted to surprise her team at work with do-nuts. When she asked friends and neighbors where she could find the best do-nuts, they all pointed her towards Shipley Do-Nuts.
“Of course, she also got some do-nuts for the kids, and they absolutely loved them – our family still talks about the day we discovered Shipley,” said Burns, who serves as vice president of operations for MLD Hospitality and is relocating back to Orlando this summer.
“The do-nuts are so fresh – like your mom just made them and served them to you still warm. Nothing on the market compares, and we think the people of Orlando, plus the many visitors to the area, will embrace Shipley Do-Nuts just as we did.”
In total, the brand has agreements in place to open 350 locations across Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado and Texas over the next five years.
“Florida has been an area of focus for us, and we really got the ball rolling with this latest signing in Orlando,” said Clifton Rutledge, CEO of Shipley Do-Nuts.
“Shipley is gaining recognition among potential franchisees who are seeing highly qualified, multi-unit operators investing in our brand, and then when they try the product for themselves, they are hooked. It’s simply the world’s greatest do-nut.”
