Jacksonville couple defy pandemic to open first Shipley Do-Nuts in Northeast Florida

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces some local eateries to close permanently, a pair of Jacksonville husband-and-wife restaurateurs are working to bring a popular Texas-based doughnut and kolache shop to Northeast Florida.

Robert and Tracy Hamlett are newcomers to the restaurant business. But along with his brother and sister-in-law – Eddie and Kristen Jones – the Hamletts are co-owners of the Shipley Do-Nuts franchise set to open this fall.

Delayed but not derailed, their shared dream of opening the first Shipley Do-Nuts in Northeast Florida is about to become a reality after nearly three years in the works.

"We're hoping to open between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1. If we can open sooner than that, then we will," Hamlett told the Times-Union this week.

Hot, freshly made doughnuts and kolaches along with specialty pastries will be on the menu when Shipley opens at 12667 Beach Blvd. at Tamaya Market shopping center at Kernan and Beach boulevards.

"While the COVID has made us a little bit nervous about the opening, overall with the Shipley business model, the only restaurants that have really been greatly affected are the ones that do not have a drive-thru," Hamlett said. 

Hamlett said that's because the pandemic – with its social distancing and occupancy capacity mandates – has limited the walk-in business.at other Shipley locations.

"Most of the current Shipleys that have the drive-thru, as we will, have not been affected greatly by the COVID," he said. 

However, they expect some impact when they open in Jacksonville.

"We don't think business will be as great as it could have been if there were no COVID, but we still think that we'll prosper, and we think we will get a lot of people out there to try the doughnuts. Once they try them, we think they'll come back for more," Hamlett said.

Finally, after some delay, the Hamletts received a city building permit July 29 for the estimated $228,759 buildout at the shopping center anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market.

Hamlett said the longest part of the process was finding the right location for the shop. They searched from Fleming Island in Clay County to Jacksonville's Westside, Julington Creek, the Beaches, and St. Johns County before selecting Tamaya Market, he said.

"It was a very difficult situation, No. 1 to find a location on the morning side of traffic. No. 2 to find a location that was on a thoroughfare that had like 30,000 cars a day or more. And No. 3, we also needed a drive-thru," said Hamlett, adding Tamaya Market met those requirements.

At 1,575-square feet, the store will seat up to 27 guests and employ 15 to 20 people. Hamlett said there is a counter with bar stools so people can eat inside and picnic tables on a small patio outdoors.  

"We are going to be a lean and mean doughnut shop," Hamlett said. The goal is to make it easy for customers to pull into the drive-thru, order, get their food, then easily get back on their way to work, shopping, school or home, he said.

The restaurant is a family endeavor.

The Hamletts moved to Jacksonville from Charlottesville, Va. about 20 years ago when he took a job in the grocery business. Currently, the couple has their own business in the field.

Tracy Hamlett is a native of Waco, Texas. Visits to see her family always included a stop at Shipley Do-Nuts, where Robert Hamlett discovered kolaches and quickly became a fan.

"It was always on our must-do list to stop at Shipley's. We'd just be talking while we were traveling how neat would it be to have something like this in Jacksonville," said Hamlett, who's always been interested in the restaurant business.

Sister-in-law Kristen Jones, though, has worked in the restaurant/hospitality industry her entire career and brings her experience to the new venture. The family also researched Shipley and the Jacksonville market for a year before moving ahead with the project.

Shipley offers at least 60 varieties of doughnuts, kolaches, and other pastries.

Hamlett said the menu will feature cake, yeast, and filled doughnuts with toppings such as chocolate or vanilla frosting, classic sugar glaze, cinnamon sugar or plain sugar. They also will have beignets, bear claws, apple fritters, cinnamon rolls, iced nut rolls, cinnamon twists, and doughnut holes, he said.

On the savory side, look for kolaches – a Texas staple of breakfast, lunch and snacks. A kolache is a yeast pastry roll typically stuffed with sausage and cheese, sausage, cheese and jalapeño, or ham and cheese.

Founded in 1936, Houston-based Shipley Do-Nuts has 327 locations in eight states including Florida. Franchisees own all but 12 of those stores, which are company-owned and concentrated in the Houston area, said Stephanye Olivera, marketing coordinator for Shipley Do-Nuts.

Jacksonville will be the second Shipley location in the state after the brand made its Florida debut in Bradenton in 2018, she said.