CLARE, MI -- When a group of police officers from Clare came together seven years ago to save the town's historic bakery from closing, they figured the parody of cops making doughnuts would create enough buzz to save the century-old business from the stranglehold of an economic recession.

No one ever told them they had a multi-million dollar idea that would go on to gain international recognition.

"All we wanted to do was save this old bakery," said Al "Bubba" White, vice president and one of the founding nine members of Cops and Doughnuts, the now-popular bakery, diner and retail store at 521 N. McEwan St. in downtown Clare.

Success changed those plans, however. The business, which now has 60 employees and three storefronts in the quaint downtown, is expanding coast-to-coast in Michigan, salvaging the historic McDonald's Bakery in Ludington to the west and Sutherland's Bakery in Bay City to the east.

In addition to giving the existing storefronts in Clare a facelift, the business is investing more than $1 million this year, White said.

And that's just the beginning.

The boys in blue are in talks about purchasing another old bakery in Indiana. And the idea of franchising the business across the U.S. and Canada is not far off, White said.

Could Cops and Doughnuts one day become synonymous with Dunkin' Donuts and Tim Hortons across North America?

"That's the plan, but it'll be better," White said. "My guess is you won't see one on every corner, but I'd like to be in a lot of downtowns, supporting a lot of communities."

The Cops and Doughnuts logo sits above the entrance to the donut shop Tuesday May 10, 2016, in Clare. Cops and Doughnuts will be expanding to locations in Bay City and Ludington.

The business

The Foss family opened the Clare City Bakery in 1896. It changed hands in 1967 and in the mid-1990s. As the economy took a turn for the worse in 2008, another owner, after running the bakery for a few years, decided it wasn't for her. After operating for 113 straight years, Clare's downtown bakery was on the verge of closing.

The small town's police force of nine officers didn't want to see that happen, though, and started building a business plan. After purchasing the bakery, they set up a nine-way, equal partnership where the founding members each control about 11 percent of the business. Those nine members then elect three managing members who make the day-to-day business decisions. If the majority of the owners don't like the general direction of the business, they can elect new managing members.

A year before purchasing the bakery, the previous owner did only about $86,000 in sales for the year, White said. In its first six months as Cops and Doughnuts, the officers did about $300,000 in sales, an amount they credited to the international media buzz around their story.

"We thought the story would spike -- because it's such a good story -- but then disappear," White said. "Our goal was to break even and then maybe five or 10 years down the road, we could sell the business.

"Now, we'll never sell it."

Last year, their bakery's payroll eclipsed $1 million for the first time and total sales were more than $3 million. About 15 percent of that total is retail merchandise sales (you can buy a T-shirt that reads "Don't Glaze Me Bro!") and 20 percent is wholesale clients -- mostly gas stations and convenience stores -- that sell their doughnuts. The remaining 65 percent is out-the-door doughnut sales in Clare.

On a slow day, about 1,000 people can come through the doors of the bakery, White said. That number triples to 3,000 on weekends and goes even higher during the summer when families are heading up north for the weekend, especially for big festivals, like Traverse City's National Cherry Festival in July.

The bakery's thousands of visitors are from all the over world. A map inside has clusters of pushpins across North America, Europe and Asia.

"People fell in love with the story here," said Carol Paetschow, a resident from neighboring Farwell who was in the bakery on Tuesday, May 10, for a doughnut and coffee with her friend Linda Leszcz. "They love the small-town charm and what the people here were able to do with this old bakery."

As the cops look to franchise their multi-million dollar idea, hanging onto that small-town charm is going to be critical.

Tom Testa was recently hired as chief operating officer of Cops and Doughnuts. The popular bakery is expanding to locations in Bay City and Ludington.

Franchising

Earlier this month, the partners hired Tom Testa as their chief operating officer. Testa, a former Clare reserve police officer, has spent years supervising and consulting a number of chain fast food restaurants, including Fazoli's, Burger King and Arby's.

His job description is clear at Cops and Doughnuts: Grow the business into a household name across North America.

"We're going to do that one location at a time," he said. "You can't grow it any other way."

But they're going to move fast. When asked how many locations the business could have by Jan. 1, 2018, Testa said up to 30.

There are going to be strict requirements for franchisees, though. The owners want some kind of law enforcement connection at every location, such as a retired cop who occasionally works there, in addition to having location-specific police memorabilia on display.

More importantly, all franchisees are required to make all confections from scratch inside the bakery.

"When grandma made her apple pie, she made it with love," White said. "We think of our customers as our grandkids and we want to put in that same level of love. If you go into a bakery and it looks too perfect, a machine did it. We don't want that here."

Location is also going to be important for franchises. The partners want to see their brand in downtown storefronts, not in strip malls. While they would prefer to see revitalization of old buildings, they're open to franchises building Cops and Doughnuts locations from the ground up.

For now, corporate -- not franchises -- are going to focus on acquiring and running historic bakeries across the country. The bakery in Indiana they're working to land opened in 1928 and has been run by the same family for the past 88 years.

It's important, the owners say, to retain the history of those types of bakeries, including their long-loved recipes. As the business grows, their hope is to have signature doughnuts or pastries from each of their corporate-owned stores at the franchised bakeries, giving patrons a taste of Bay City or Ludington, or wherever, no matter the location.

The Sutherland's Bakery sign glows in the front window of the business at 710 E. Midland St. on Bay City's West Side. The bakery was purchased by Cops and Doughnuts.

Cities

Sutherland's Bakery in Bay City and McDonald's Bakery in Ludington followed a similar path of the Clare City Bakery. Both are family-owned businesses that have more than a 100-year history in their towns. Both also ran out of interested family members to keep the business going.

"What I'm finding is that people just don't want to work that hard anymore," said Testa. "Running a bakery with a few people is a tough, grueling business."

Geraldine Rezler, who ran Sutherland's in Bay City with her husband for 67 years, knows how grueling the business is firsthand. She closed the bakery on New Year's Eve 2014.

Geraldine Rezler ran Sutherland's Bakery for 67 years before closing its doors.

"People called me up crying when we were closing," Rezler said. "Of course I wanted to see it live on, but it's a really hard business."

Her son Michael "worked his butt off 24-7" to keep the business afloat, the 86-year-old said, but it started wearing on his health. The August after closing, he suffered a stroke and is still trying to recover.

A month after the bakery closed, business partners Troy McCormick and Beth Dore purchased it, in hopes of bringing vitality to the business district. They brought in a baker to the run the business, but things didn't work out. A deal with Cops and Doughnuts was worked out in the last few months.

"I am just so happy that they're buying it," Rezler said. "Not just for my family and for the Sutherland family, but for the city. That bakery is an integral part of that neighborhood."

The bakery is going to be called Cops and Doughnuts Sutherland's Precinct. The company is hiring at least 20 employees at the location and plans to open by the Fourth of July. The Bay City location will also serve as a wholesale supplier for clients in Midland and across the region.

The Ludington location -- which will be called Cops and Doughnuts McDonald's Precinct -- opens on May 15.

The business also runs a pop-up shop in Jay's Sporting Goods in Gaylord. Doughnuts are trucked from Clare to the store at 2 a.m. daily.

The success of Cops and Doughnuts has contributed to the rejuvenation of downtown Clare, said Clare City Manager Ken Hibl.

Revitalizing a town

When Cops and Doughnuts opened their Clare location, there were 11 empty storefronts in a three-block stretch of the downtown. Today, only one remains vacant.

Morgan Humphrey has witnessed the rebirth firsthand.

In December, along with her grandmother Judy Clienhardt, she opened Heart of Michigan Cafe, two storefronts down from Cops and Doughnuts. Although the businesses share clientele, the foot traffic generated by the bakery made it a no-brainer to open a few doors down.

"We feed off each other, really," Humphrey said. "They have so many people going in there, that we knew both could succeed."

Locals have also picked up on the popularity of their downtown: "Good luck finding a parking spot some days," said Carol Paetschow.

While he credits an improved overall economy, Clare City Manager Ken Hibl can't help but think his police force's entrepreneurial spirit brought a little luck and motivation to the town he's managed for the past 18 years.

"This town is on the rise," he said. "It's because of people like these guys who aren't afraid to reinvent themselves on a daily basis. They weren't afraid to try something and now it has paid off."

White said the $3 million sales figure from last year is a point of success, but he's most proud of the $1 million in payroll their employees earned last year.

"Because I know they're not sending that money to the Cayman Islands," he said. "They're spending it right here."

The future is looking bright for the town of Clare, population 3,100. In June, Walmart is breaking ground on a new store in the city limits and a new, 60-acre industrial park is already more than half-filled with businesses.

"Our little hometown is really not so little anymore," Humphrey said.