The Miami Valley has seen an influx of chain doughnut shops in recent years, and large chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Tim Hortons have said there are more coming.
More Tim Hortons restaurants are on the way (March 2017)
William Parsons, the retired Dayton police officer who co-founded District 6 Donuts, said that the business was not losing money, although he was disappointed at the level of walk-up sales. The driving factor behind the decision to close was the amount of time he and his sister — who has a full-time job unrelated to the doughnut shop — were spending at District 6. Parsons has law enforcement consulting and training businesses and spends about 180 days a year on the road.
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But Parsons acknowledged that the future of the local doughnut market will be difficult.
“Between Tim Hortons and Dunkin’ Donuts, it will be a tough market to thrive in,” he said.
District 6 had a different concept than the traditional chains, allowing customers to customize each doughnut, which was fried and topped on demand, ensuring that each doughnut was served warm with fresh drizzles and toppings.
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Two weeks after District 6 opened in June, however, Duck Donuts — which has a serving concept very similar to that of District 6 — announced it would open its first of multiple Dayton-area doughnut shops on Brown Street at Stewart Street near the entrance to the University of Dayton.
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Duck Donuts opened in October. Its shop is only six-tenths of a mile north of District 6 Donuts, at 6 Oakwood Ave. just inside the Oakwood border with Dayton.
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Parsons said he and his sister had decided even before Duck Donuts opened that they were either going to move to a smaller location that could attract more walk-up business or shut down altogether. He said he believes his product was superior to Duck Donuts.
District 6 fans were saddened at news of the closure, and expressed that sadness in their posts on the District 6 Donuts Facebook page.
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“Oh no! Will miss the nice atmosphere & yummy donuts,” one commenter said. Another wrote: “Thanks for being our local donut shop. The kids loved walking down for donuts!”
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“Say it isn’t so,” another wrote. “No one last hoorah? Please take my money.”
Another customer wrote, “I tried to help with promotion, but it wasn’t enough.”
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