Krispy Kreme reopens; Raleigh rejoices

RALEIGH -- All is right again in the world.

The downtown Raleigh Krispy Kreme turned on its "HOT NOW" sign this morning after being closed for renovations over the last month.

Despite the rain, doughnut fans began lining up Monday afternoon for a chance to win a dozen doughnuts each week for a year.

Troy Smith, a teacher from Holly Springs won the prize after standing in line for 14 hours. He received the same prize last fall when he was first at the Fayetteville Street store, which opened in October.

He planned to teach class this morning, but there would be no donuts for his students. Sorry kids.

"I love Krispy Kreme," he said with his sleeping bag, green cot and grill nearby. He's also done the Krispy Kreme challenge, which involves running four miles and eating a dozen donuts at mile 2.

Smith served burgers on grilled donuts to others in line during the night.

The burger "was outstanding," said Abe Lawson, a rising senior at N.C. State University, who slept in a tent in the parking lot with his buddy, Brandon Long. "I felt my heart slow down a bit, but I would do it again."

The Vaughn family -- dad, Harris, Ella Reaves, 9, Harry, 7, and Fletcher, 3 -- showed up at 6:15 a.m. just after rolling out of bed. Dad wore a Carolina baseball cap and flip-flops. Fletcher had on green, bug-covered PJ's with a shirt that said "Don't bug me."

"We woke up at 6," Harris Vaughn said. "We had hoped to get here earlier, but you know what, we did the best we could."

Mom stayed in bed, Harris Vaughn said.

"The last I saw of her was a bare hand waving goodbye," he said.

But she did get in her order of a dozen hot glazed.

The kids wanted chocolate with sprinkles, and they ate them there.

The family, of Raleigh, comes to Krispy Kreme a couple times of month, Ella Reaves said. While the mother-ship store was closed, they went to the Fayetteville Street location, but those doughnuts weren't the same, the family said. They weren't hot.

This morning, the doughnuts tasted better than they before the renovations, Ella Reaves declared.

"Everyone is happy this morning," Harris Vaughn said as he looked as his brood all sitting across the table from him. "Doughnuts make a big difference in this household."

The building on Person Street has not been remodeled since it opened in that location in 1971. The original building was built in 1939 a few doors down.