Happy Hour Donuts expands to new storefront in Colorado Springs
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — After experiencing job losses during the pandemic, Gabby and Ryan Main shifted their focus to building up their boozy and gourmet donut business, which has now become so popular, that they are expanding their craft to a ‘sweeter’ location at a brand new storefront on the northwest side of town.
A ‘Sweet’ Start:
“We opened, just for online orders, in October of 2020, and we have worked the past three-and-a-half years out of our 800-square-foot apartment kitchen, and we always knew that we wanted to open a shop,” said Gabby Main, Co-Owner of Happy Hour Donuts.
The ‘Key’ to Success:
A dream come true for the husband and wife duo, who received keys to their new storefront in June of 2023. The shop, which the couple picked out after more than a year of searching, is located at 6660 Delmonico Drive, Suite B, and while it needed a lot of work, Gabby said it was the perfect spot to set up shop.
A ‘Renovation’ of Love:
After almost a year of renovations, and a couple of delays due to kitchen construction, the couple is excited to host a grand opening on Saturday, May 18.
“We basically used DIY for everything that we could in that shop. It was very different looking from when we got in, to what it is now. We painted the walls… we put in new floors, we painted the countertops, installed a display case, we had some different muralists come and put murals on our walls, [and] we changed the lighting,” Gabby said of the many renovations her and Ryan did themselves.
Before Photos:
Before photos of the renovations needed for the Happy Hour Donuts storefront. Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts
After Photos:
After photos of renovations show the inside of Happy Hour Donuts. Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts Courtesy: Happy Hour Donuts
By far her favorite DIY addition though—”We made our ‘Sprinkle’ wall, which is my pride and joy because it has 3D sprinkles and it is the perfect photo area.”
We ‘Knead’ More Donuts:
With renovations complete, the couple held a soft opening over Mother’s Day weekend, which Gabby said, went better than she could have ever imagined.
“The very first day when I went to open the door, I saw the line and it was wrapped around the corner,” Gabby said. “I was almost in tears because I was just like, ‘Oh my goodness, so many people care about us and are coming to show support on our very first day,’ so it was amazing.”
On Saturday, May 11, Gabby and Ryan made 265 donuts for their customers to try and sold out in 52 minutes. The next day, on Mother’s Day, they made even more donuts to account for the crowds but still, Gabby said it wasn’t enough. “We sold out in less time, we sold out in 45 minutes on day two,” Gabby said.
“We are planning to make a lot more donuts for our grand opening on Saturday,” Gabby laughed.
Ryan Main holds a ‘Sold Out’ sign during Happy Hour Donuts’ soft opening. Gabby and Ryan give each other a hug after selling out both days of their soft opening weekend.
Don’t ‘Glaze’ over These Flavors:
As far as the new flavors the couple plans to roll out, here’s what Gabby had to say: “Our newest flavor that we have is ‘Guava Margarita’… so that’s one of our alcoholic options and then for non-alcoholic, we are going to do our ‘Butterbeer’ option because I am a huge Harry Potter fan… but we wanted to make it non-alcoholic because I feel like a lot of kids love Harry Potter as well.”
Gabby said they have also updated several, non-alcoholic donut favorites including; their cookies and cream, chocolate, and Funfetti options. The couple said they’ve expanded their business to include 50% alcoholic and 50% non-alcoholic flavors of gourmet donuts so all ages can enjoy them!
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On Saturday, the grand opening will begin at 8:30 a.m. and is scheduled to go until 1 p.m., but the timing will be dependent on how quickly the donuts sell out.
“We are just so excited and humbled by all of the support we have received,” said Gabby. “To go from where we started to opening a shop and having everyone excited about us is crazy and is so cool to see how many people love our donuts.”
‘Dough-not’ Stop There:
Gabby said in addition to their storefront, they will continue to attend pop-up events and farmers markets when time allows. They will also continue catering for weddings or large events.
Starting out, Gabby said the storefront will be open Wednesdays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Saturdays, they will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The shop will be closed Sundays through Tuesdays until June 3, but after that, the shop will be open on Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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