GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Sprinkles, a popular donut shop chain with six locations in West Michigan, opened a storefront on Leonard and Fuller Saturday. It's their first in Grand Rapids.
The story of how it all came to be, though, is so much sweeter.
Owner Gary VanderStelt Jr. said he wasn’t expecting a crowd. But when he pulled up after pulling an all-nighter making doughnuts, he was shocked to find a long line that remained during the entire three-hour event.
“I think my dad would be real happy. And also real surprised," he said.
VanderStelt’s late father created the business nearly ten years ago.
“I don't remember a time not knowing how to make a doughnut," VanderStelt explained.
When he joined the crew, they only worked together less than a year before VanderStelt Sr. passed. He cherishes the short time they worked together, especially the nights they spent across the table from each other, cutting cinnamon rolls.
"It was a part of my life that I'll remember for a long time," he said.
VanderStelt Sr. was a baker for decades on the lakeshore, starting back in the 1980s.
His son remembers he would eat a raspberry bismark and a pot of reheated coffee to start each shift at the bakery, and never got sick of the routine.
“I think he lived most of the night on coffee and doughnuts," he laughed.
VanderStelt Jr., however, never thought he’d get involved in the family business.
“When I was younger, I hated working in the bakery. And I hated working nights," he said.
As he got older, though, he started doing both. And he says he wouldn’t change a thing.
The business continues to expand, with more locations planned for the future.
The next project on the horizon is a location in Norton Shores set to open in March. The site used to be VanderStelt Sr.'s bakery back in the '90s.
No matter what, though, every decision VanderStelt makes for the company will be one from the heart — and always with his dad in mind.
“It's an important part of the heritage of Sprinkles," he said.
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