Greenville getting a custom doughnut shop

You will soon be able to satisfy your sweet tooth in another way. A new doughnut shop is set to open on Augusta Road later this summer.

The Donut Experiment will open on Augusta Road around Labor Day, according to local owner, Terri Klaeser. The unique shop will not only be the first location in South Carolina, but will be the first franchise location for the Anna Maria, Florida-based company.

"Greenville is a very unique town filled with interesting restaurants, stores and people, says Shawn Wampole, president of The Donut Experiment. "Terri (Klaeser) and I both feel that The Donut Experiment will be a great addition to the cool vibe already going on in Greenville. Plus, who doesn't love a fresh doughnut that you can customize?"

The Doughnut Experiment presents its deliciously fried treats in a little bit of a different way. The shop is set up to allow guests to create their own flavors. You start with a base of a freshly made, fried to order cake doughnut, choose your frosting and then choose a topping.

Klaeser was hooked immediately.

"We've had a few doughnuts in our life," Klaeser says. "These are light and not too sweet and they're just the right size that you can choose a couple different ones, we just fell in love with them."

The Greenville shop will follow the same format, allowing customers to come in and create their own favorites. The store will feature five different icings: vanilla, glazed, maple, chocolate and caramel and a bountiful list of toppings from sea salt and Oreos to various candy bar bits, nuts and even Fruity Pebbles.

Each doughnut rings in at $1.35, but you can create a half dozen for $7.25 or a full dozen for $13.

"It's just an experience," Klaeser says. "We go in there and they've got these hot fresh, made-too order cake doughnuts, and really good coffee, and you just watch your doughnuts get made."

Before Klaeser was a Donut Experiment franchisee she was a fan. She discovered the small shop when she and family were vacationing in Anna Maria last year. The family so loved the doughnuts at Donut Experiment that they ended up returning every day of their vacation.

"All we could think talk about on the way home was gosh, Greenville really needs a place like this," Klaeser recalls. "Greenville would love this."

So Klaeser contacted Wampole. But the company wasn't yet ready to franchise. Wampole promised to let Klaeser know when they were.

True to his word, in January, Wampole e-mailed Klaeser to let her know The Donut Experiment was now franchising.

"My husband and I started thinking seriously about it and decided I was ready to do something different," says Klaeser who is a residential designer by trade. "It's something we feel can grow with our family."

The Klaesers searched all over Greenville for suitable places for their shop, but ultimately settled on Augusta Road for its charm and neighborhood feel.

"Augusta Road is that area that welcomes the specialty boutique type shop, and this is kind of a boutique type doughnut shop," Klaeser says. "It just seemed like the perfect spot."

The Donut Experiment Greenville will bring the full experience of creating the perfect doughnut home. For now, Klaeser anticipates opening around 7 each morning and staying open into the afternoon and even the evening if customers show interest.

The shop will also feature good, fresh coffee.

Mostly, Klaeser says, she wants the shop to be a place people have fun and where they feel comfortable just hanging out. The 1450-square-foot space will feature tables, an eat-in bar and a lounge area with couches and a couple comfy chairs.

"My father was always the person that loved to sit at the doughnut counter with the newspaper and drink a cup of coffee in the mornings," Klaeser says. "I guess that's where my love of doughnuts came from.

"He would have been behind this one, I know."

The Donut Experiment will be located at 2123 Augusta Rd., Greenville