Four months after Doughnut Time closed its doors around the country, the brand has announced a surprise comeback.
Gold Coast health and fitness entrepreneur Peter Andros has taken over the iconic doughnut brand, and promises to distance himself from the brand’s past scandal.
In a Facebook post announcing the re-launch, he says that what happened to past employees is ‘unacceptable’.
‘We encourage any previous workers who have not yet done so to reclaim unpaid wages by contacting the Department of Jobs and Small Business,’ the post said.
Four months after Doughnut Time closed its doors around the country, the brand has announced a surprise comeback
‘We believe many Australians missed Doughnut Time and when we saw it was up for sale, we jumped at the opportunity to bring it back.’
In a statement provided to Broadsheet, Andros said that he promises not to repeat the mistakes that were made by the previous owner.
35 employees claimed in March that they had been left thousands of dollars out of pocket and hadn’t been given any superannuation payments.
Throughout 15 stores in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast, employees claimed that they were owed over $70,000 in wages.
Founder Damian Griffiths was facing multiple lawsuits after employees took their issues to Fair Work.
It is claimed that Doughnut Time management began to delay payday months before the brand’s closure and stopped paying workers altogether.
After the sudden closures of the stores, employees put a poster on the closed Queen Victoria Building outlet that read ‘Doughnut Time hasn’t paid us in weeks!!! And now we all got fired’.
They’re promising to bring back all the fans’ original faves, along with vegan, gluten free, high protein and keto options
Mr Griffiths apologised to staff ‘for not being able to pay them in full’, acknowledging it was a ‘terrible position for them’.
‘I expanded too quickly. I guess I had too many big ideas and dreams when I started,’ he said.
Fans of the doughnut brand were left devastated when it was shut down.
Eight new stores are set to be opened over the coming two months, including outlets in Degraves Street and Fitzroy in Melbourne, and on the Gold Coast and South Bank in Brisbane.
Posting the announcement to the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages, the brand says they’re coming back ‘bigger and better than ever’
Andros aims to launch the re-branded chain on August 1, beginning in Queensland and spreading throughout the country.
Posting the announcement to the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages, the brand says they’re coming back ‘bigger and better than ever’.
They’re promising to bring back all the fans’ original favourites, along with vegan, gluten-free, high-protein and keto options.
He also said that he wanted to bring the brand back because he missed the product.
Doughnut Time has been taken over by Pete Andros, who aims at launching the re-branded store on August 1
‘I was one of the people standing in line for fresh doughnuts, and when Doughnut Time went under, I saw an opportunity to save a great Brisbane-born brand,’ he said.
Andros promises to take a ‘start small’ approach.
‘We strongly believe in the Doughnut Time brand and its value in the Australian marketplace,’ Andros said.
‘Doughnut Time products are iconic, fun and we look forward to bringing them back better than ever before.’