‘We’re going to fight back’: Sacramento doughnut shop gears up for more chain competition

Baker’s Donuts, a family-owned doughnut shop in Sacramento, is gearing up for competition as another chain plans to open across the street.

A new Dunkin’ franchise will be the third doughnut shop on Florin Road, the owners learned from CBS Sacramento. It’s expected to open in August.

How are local owners responding?

Baker Donuts’ owner Sivkun Hem, who goes by Suzie, told The Bee she was initially surprised by the plans for a new Dunkin’ but believes her shop will survive due to its regular customers and local reputation.

The Sacramento Business Journal reported in March that county records showed plans for Dunkin’ signs at 5625 Florin Road.

“I was shocked, but I tried to tell myself that I have to be strong,” said Hem, who has been running the business for 38 years. “I have to keep up whatever I’m doing right now and do the best for our customers — it’s the only way I can do it.”

Spokespeople for Dunkin’ did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Baker’s Donuts sells a variety colorful and unique doughnut flavors like ube, Reese’s and Fruity Pebbles. Top sellers like the maple-bacon and cookie butter doughnut also keep customers coming back, Hem said.

“We’re going to fight back,” said 58-year-old Hem, who’s been in the business since she was a teenager. “We have different kinds of doughnuts. It’s not just one doughnut or one flavor, so we’re going to fight that and be strong.”

Outside of doughnuts, the store also sells cinnamon rolls, croissant-doughnut pastries known as “cronuts” and breakfast sandwiches. Customers can also order from the store’s drink menu that features local Java City espresso drinks like iced mochas and lattes.

How Baker’s Donuts competed before

This isn’t the first time Sacramento’s beloved mom-and-pop doughnut shop has braced for corporate competition. In November 2013, a new Krispy Kreme opened at 5900 Florin Road, next door to Baker’s.

And the sales at the shop went up, store manager Douglas Hem said.

Douglas Hem, the owner’s son, said they added new doughnut flavors and promoted them on social media.

“Sometimes we’ll get customers from Krispy Kreme because they’ll be disappointed at the selection and they’ll think ‘let’s check out a small mom and pop shop’ and they’re surprised by what we have,” Douglas Hem, 32, said.

Douglas Hem, who has been helping out at the store since he was young, also runs the store’s Instagram page alongside his sister, Stephanie Hem. The page, which was launched in 2012, now has more than 30,000 followers and posts frequently about the store’s new creations and specials. And the community support crosses generations.

“Since we’ve been here for 38 years, we’ve seen generations, so we’ll see grandparents and their grandchildren in the store,” Douglas Hem said. “They’ll bring their loved ones down to the shop.”

‘We work so hard’

Suzie Hem added that many of her store’s regular customers have already voiced their continued support of Baker’s upon first hearing about new store plans for Dunkin’ last week.

“The local people support us,” she said. “It’s a family doughnut shop and we work so hard, seven days a week. We try to do our best for all of our customers and for the local community.”

And while several stores and even malls in the area have opened and closed throughout the decades, the local doughnut shop has remained in business.

“We’ve seen so many changes,” Douglas Hem said, “but it’s really an honor to be a business in south Sacramento for so many years.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.