The Doughnut Shop That’s 100% Owned By Cops



Who isn’t familiar with the link between cops and doughnuts? It turns out that because crime isn’t convenient and doesn’t occur strictly between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., so cops often work late at night. Imagine driving around looking for a snack in the wee hours. About the only place that was open in the early days was the 24-hour doughnut shop. All cops had to do was order coffee and a doughnut and be on their way. Once police became pretty established patrons of late-night doughnut shops, a sort of symbiotic relationship evolved. So, it stands to reason that when the local doughnut shop in Clare, Michigan, was closing, officers of the Clare Police Department bought the 113-year-old bakery. According to co-owner Alan White, there were nine officers on the force in 2009, when the doughnut shop was on the chopping block, and it didn’t take long for all of them to pool their resources to save the bakery. They changed the name from Clare City Bakery to Cops & Doughnuts. Now, a decade later, those nine officers hold monthly business meetings, while Alan White and Greg Rynearson, both retired, run the day-to-day operation. Of course, the new owners put their own twist on the doughnut names, including the Bacon Squealer (a long John without filling topped with maple icing and two strips of bacon), the Jailhouse Rock (a peanut butter-filled Bismark with banana frosting, and the Nightstick (a long John with custard, chocolate frosting and chocolate chips).