Financial Analysis
Krispy Kreme was a successful manufacturer of Doughnuts that was established in 1937 by a young entrepreneur named Vernon Rudolph. Rudolph was an industrious man who found clever ways to market and sell his unique confections to the American public. By the 1950’s Rudolph’s business had expanded to twenty-nine shops within twelve different states. Each shop featured pick-up windows (early versions of drive thrus) and possessed the capability of producing 500 dozen doughnuts per hour. In 1954, Mike Harding joined Rudolph as business partner in order to facilitate the expansion of the company. Both men realized that the quality of their products stemmed from having control over each aspect of the doughnut making process. If each item included the set amount of ingredients, was baked to perfection, and served hot to hungry customers, then all Krispy Kreme shops were to meet great success. Harding became the company’s president in 1958, and then went on to become chief executive officer after Rudolph’s death in 1973. Under both men, Krispy Kreme’s revenues grew from less than $1 million in 1958 to $58 million by 1974. In 1976, the company was bought by Beatrice Foods who decided to change the recipe, the 1950’s look of the doughnut shops, of course, the logo. Beatrice foods decision to modernized Krispy Kreme was received negatively by customers. In an effort to revive the company, a group of franchisee’s bought Krispy Kreme from Beatrice Foods for $22 million in a leveraged buyout in 1982. The original recipe and logo was restored and sales rebounded, however the high interest rates of the 1980’s made the buyout debt hard to pay off. In the early 1990’s Scott Livengood, who had previously joined the company in 1978 rose through the ranks and was made CEO of Krispy Kreme by 1998. Concerned with slumping sales, Livengood set the company on a path to