Krispy Kreme doughnuts are about to become a lot easier to find in downtown Chicago.
The popular chain announced it will open its only downtown Chicago location in October 2019. Construction on the project begins this month.
The shop will be located in the Block 37 Pedway mall connecting the CTA Red and Blue lines. It will serve the classic glazed doughnuts, as well as other doughnut flavors and a variety of coffee and drinks.
Those who remember Krispy Kreme shops of years past may recall watching the doughnuts being made through a window, inching along a conveyor belt towards a waterfall of glaze. But the new Loop location won’t be making the doughnuts in-house. Instead they will be shipped twice daily from other locations.
This is the chain’s first Chicago location in nearly a decade. It left downtown Chicago and closed many suburban locations following the 2008 financial crisis, but since 2015 has been slowly returning to the area.
The location in Block 37 joins three other local Krispy Kremes in Hillside, Evergreen Park and Homewood. Chicagoland Restaurants LLC, the area franchisee of Krispy Kreme, is planning an additional four locations that have not been announced yet.