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Hernando Today

Doughnut Shop Only Tenant At New Plaza

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: December 19, 2008

MASARYKTOWN - Sixteen store fronts went up in June.

Only one has been occupied.

The lone business inside the yet-to-be-named plaza is Daylight Donuts. It opened 11 days ago.

"It really hasn't bothered me," said the shop's co-owner Aimee Delgado of being the only tenant inside a 27,000-square-foot retail center. "We still get a lot of customers in here."

At that moment she crept down the counter toward the register. A man ordered six cream-filled doughnuts. It was his first time inside the shop.

"I promise you'll love it," she told him as she slid the box toward him.

Delgado is getting a lot of regulars, mostly in the mornings. The store, located at the corner of U.S. 41 and Ayers Road, opens at 4 a.m.

It seemed like a high-risk proposition to open a doughnut shop in Masaryktown. Not much has been developed in that small corner of Hernando County, and the economy has taken a nosedive.

"That's what I was afraid of, but they're doing good over there," said Curtis Sharp, who heads new store development for the doughnut chain.

He attended the grand opening last week.

"People will drive to get a good product," he said.
Daylight Donuts was founded more than 50 years ago and is based out of Tulsa, Okla.

Luyen Nguyen, a Naples-area dentist, opened the shopping plaza along with two partners from Switzerland. He was disappointed with an article that ran six months ago that included skeptical comments from at least one Masaryktown resident.

The building itself is pink and peach in color.

Nguyen declined to give an interview, but said he paid $600,000 to improve the sewage and water system in the area and that he aimed to bring more business and jobs to Masaryktown.

The reason for the lack of tenants is because "the banks are not loaning people money," he said.
Bob Beck was seated by the window of the doughnut shop Thursday afternoon. It was his third time visiting since the grand opening. He lives a short distance away along U.S. 41.

"What she really needs here is a dollar store," he said as he pointed toward Delgado. "People always come to those things, no matter where they are."

Delgado said she has encountered customers as far away as Wesley Chapel. Some people, mainly Oklahoma natives, make special trips to the shop because they are familiar with the food - which includes doughnuts, sausage rolls, Danishes and sandwiches.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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