ATLANTA — After two fires, the iconic Ponce de Leon Krispy Kreme store is back open for business — well, sort of.
A new pop-up store has now been set up at the location. It will stay open through the holidays before the store rebuilds.
The original Krispy Kreme store was demolished last month after it was destroyed by two fires just months apart from each other.
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Fire investigators say the first fire was a result of arson.
Krispy Kreme officials say while the pop-up is temporary, they are committed to rebuilding.
“As a brand, we are very excited to get back to midtown Atlanta, to spread the joy especially this Christmas time,” a Krispy Kreme representative said.
Customers are excited to have the doughnut store back in their neighborhood.
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“I live one block down the street. and I’ve watched this thing burn down twice, and I was literly just driving by and saw that it was open and was like, ‘Holy crap!’ I was like, ‘I got to do it.’ I’ve been waiting like a year or two now,” customer Chad Weeks said.
The iconic store has stood at the Ponce de Leon Avenue location since 1965.
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The store was closed for two months in 2003 as it underwent a big renovation that included installing the conveyor belt to make their legendary fresh “Hot” doughnuts.
It almost closed a number of times throughout the years, which prompted former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal to buy the historic doughnut shop in 2016.
Krispy Kreme said it plans to build a new store on the site in 2022.
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