Off-duty officers will keep order at Krispy Kreme debut

ISSAQUAH — In what is either the mark of a darned-good doughnut or a darned-savvy marketing campaign, operators of the Northwest's first Krispy Kreme have hired off-duty police officers to guide the crush of patrons expected during its grand opening this week.

The city has been warned to expect a line of up to 100 cars after the shop opens at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, as motorists try to buy a dozen with sprinkles via Krispy Kreme's drive-through window at the East Lake Sammamish Shopping Center, north of downtown.

"I'm finding it very hard to believe that the yuppies who live in this area are going to sit in line for two hours to get doughnuts, but the Krispy Kreme folks are swearing that this will happen," said Chris Felstad, operations commander of the Issaquah police.

Felstad said people from Vancouver, Wash., had already showed up, not realizing the store hadn't yet opened.

Off-duty police officers from local police forces will work in teams of four on shifts from 5 a.m. until midnight. They will block off a quarter of the shopping center's parking lot, transforming the asphalt in front of The Home Depot into a queue resembling that at a ferry landing.

"The State Patrol is aware as well because this is probably going to leak out on the highway," said Betsy O'Connor, director of operations of Pacific Asset Advisors, property manager for the shopping center.

The dedication of Krispy Kreme customers has become the stuff of legend. Fans have waited all night in pajamas for openings in California. Lines of up to 200 cars have clogged roads around new stores, said Lee Weddle, manager of KremeWorks, Krispy Kreme's area developer. Earlier this month, a police helicopter landed in a parking lot adjacent to an Albuquerque Krispy Kreme and picked up doughnuts. The incident is under investigation.

KremeWorks is paying for the crowd control and for signs warning a pastry-crazed public not to park in front of neighboring businesses.

"A lot of people throughout the country in the Krispy Kreme world expect us to break the record" for one-week sales, Weddle said. The record is held by the first Denver store, which opened about six months ago, but Weddle declined to say what the record is.

KremeWorks hopes to open 30 stores around the Northwest and Hawaii in the next five years.

Bob Brock, Issaquah's public-works director, expects the police will be needed for a week and perhaps longer.

Felstad of the Issaquah police hoped pilgrims would arrive with patience — and without doughnut jokes for the officers.