HOUSTON — Shipley Do-Nuts has increased its development pipeline by 33%, opening eight new stores and posting its 14th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales.

Shipley accelerated its rate of store openings through the second quarter, partially due to an expanded development team, and is projected to “gain steam” in the second half of the year, the company said. With more than double the number of additional locations underway, these stores are scheduled to open before Dec. 31 and are located in Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, with the latter two states never having stores before.

Moreover, the company shared an updated franchise disclosure document in the second quarter that focused on lower investment costs, higher average unit volumes, and EBITDA profitability project at between 18% and 20%. Due to these results, Shipley closed 11 multi-unit development deals through the second quarter of 2024, which is a significant increase over the previous year.

“With our faster development cycle, new stores now in the pipeline and some major multi-unit deals in the works, we are on pace to meet our aggressive growth goals,” said Keith Sizemore, senior vice president of franchise development at Shipley Do-Nuts. “We’re seeing tenured franchisees growing again while also attracting new franchisees to our system with our updated business model, proven profitability and product line that is perfect for multi-unit operators who want to diversify their portfolios.”  

Shipley also said it is leaning into product innovation to drive engagement and increase sales. As part of this product innovation, Shipley launched the Poptastic donut featuring freeze-dried Skittles in January, the first new limited-edition product in decades, followed by the Oreo Cookies & Dream donut in April. The company also said it operated an early test of its third-quarter promotion, the breakfast egg and cheese kolache line, which far exceeded expectations and proved it will be the largest limited-time offering in the history of Shipley.

“Our new kolaches and quarterly LTO donut releases represent our continual menu innovation to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests,” said Kaitlyn Venable, executive chef at Shipley Do-Nuts. “Our three new egg and cheese kolache varieties that launched in early July have quickly become bestsellers and set single-day sales records weekly at our locations. Seeing how much our guests love our kolaches, I’m already back in the kitchen developing newer kolaches to bring to our guests.”

Looking ahead, Shipley is focused on growing in Georgia, aiming to open 90 units in the Atlanta area plus opportunities in Savannah, Augusta and Columbus. The company also considers North Carolina a “high-growth market,” with 95 potential units in development in Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.