CLARE (WJRT) -- (07/15/09)--Cops and doughnuts:
You know the joke about officers hanging around the doughnut shop. But what is happening in the small community of Clare is no joke. The police officers in that town have bought the Clare City Bakery, which was on the verge of closing. The 113-year-old Clare City Bakery was about to close for good when the police officers came to the rescue.
"It's going to be all of us or none of us to make this happen," said co-owner Brian Gregory. All nine Clare city police officers made this happen: Cops and Doughnuts, a shop that has been packed with customers for the past two weeks.
"It has been absolutely out of control," Gregory said. The owners of the Clare City Bakery were about to close the shop when the police officers decided to pool their money and buy the bakery.
"At one time there were 13 closed storefronts from the north end of town to the south end of town, and we didn't want to see another closed storefront," Gregory said. That's why they bought the shop -- not because cops really like doughnuts, a stereotype that has developed over the years when cops would walk the beat at night.
"That was all that was open at 3 a.m. was the old bakery and the old doughnut shop," Gregory said. "The bakery has traditionally been the heart of downtown," said Lori Schuh, the Clare Mainstreet manager.
Schuh says Cops and Doughnuts mania is spreading. "I've been seeing people go to this business and then go to other businesses," she said.
"I think this is awesome," said Val Keitch, who was visiting Clare from England. Keitch works for an English police department and can't wait to tell her bosses across the pond about the doughnut shop. "To get our policemen out of the police stations and actually interacting with the community," Keitch said.
Before the cops came in, there were only two employees at the bakery. Now there are 14, giving some Clare teenagers a pretty cool summer job. "I just pictured my first job as being nice and calm, but this is good," said Kayla Bicknell.
"We saw Cops and Doughnuts and we said, 'We have to stop here,'" said Teresa Wonder of Ohio. Wonder needed a cup of coffee for the long ride home. "It's very clever. It's like the cliche and they actually put it up there," she said.
Along with baked goods with names like Misdemeanor Muffin and Felony Fritter, t-shirts with witty slogans (like "Hand Cuffs & Cream Puffs", "Don't Glaze Me Bro", & "We Frisk Our Fritters") are selling like doughnuts, a treat long associated with police officers. And while the men in blue aren't crazy about that stereotype, it's working at the shop.
"If it were nine farmers that came in and opened this up as Farmers and Doughnuts, I don't think they would get the type of response we are getting," Gregory said.
By the way, the police officers don't work in the shop; they just own it. And yes, they have already had offers to franchise Cops and Doughnuts. (
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With any luck, they might go with one of my suggestions;
"The Thin Blue Line, Just Got A Little Wider" or "Move It Along, There's Something To Eat Here".