An inspiring news story in five acts:

  • Good news — Krispy Kreme makes really good doughnuts.
  • Bad news — The last Krispy Kreme store in Minnesota closed in 2008. In other words, for more than a decade, the state has been Krispy Kreme-less.
  • Good news — Jayson Gonzalez exists. The college student started driving 250+ miles to a store in Clive, Iowa to get doughnuts. No, not just for himself; he buys them by the carful for countless Minnesotans longing for the delicacies. Jayson has a Facebook page — “Krispy Kreme Run Minnesota” — which now has more than 6,600 followers, and he uses the page to coordinate with his customers. On a typical trip, he’ll buy dozens and dozens of doughnuts, and will stop in the parking lots of around five different Target stores, where customers can pick up their orders.
  • Bad news — Krispy Kreme got wind of Jayson’s enterprise, and told him to cease operations. The doughnut company told CNN that the doughnuts were not meeting their quality standards on Jayson’s four-hour trips.
  • Good news — Krispy Kreme did an about-face. They are now in negotiations with Jayson to let him become an independent operator. And they’re even giving him 500 dozen doughnuts for when he restarts his business.

[H/T CNN]