What could be the state’s first Krispy Kreme franchise is expected to open at the old Paris Farmers Union location in Auburn.

But according to the franchise owner, other locations under consideration for the gooey doughnut chain are Portland or South Portland, Windham, Bangor and Augusta.

Other possibilities are Brunswick, Biddeford and Kittery, owner Cort Mendez told the New Hampshire Business Review in a March interview. Some of those locations could be in existing, but vacant, retail stores that would need to be retrofitted for Krispy Kreme and could potentially open sooner than the Auburn location, according to Sylas Hatch, a broker with Portland’s NAI The Dunham Group, who brokered the deal for the Auburn Krispy Kreme in August.

“The brand is so well-known, reaction of people has been so positive. It completely confirmed what I was hoping to see,” Mendez told the business journal about his expansion into New Hampshire and Maine.

Mendez is partnering with Bob Raymond, a partner at R&D Research in Massachusetts, on the Auburn location.

The former feed and building supply store at 410 Center St. and two other properties have been razed and an 8,400-square-foot building with drive-thrus is under construction. The retail complex will house Krispy Kreme, a Firehouse Sub, Cricket Wireless and one other retail tenant, according to Marina Turmelle, marketing director at NAI The Dunham Group. The construction should be finished this fall.

Hatch is working with Mendez to find other locations for other Krispy Kremes in Maine.


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