The delicious smell that wafts from Buy the Dozen Donuts is enough to lure some customers in, said owner Ray Wallace.
“They usually come in with a smile when they smell it,” he said.
The entire donut-making process is on display behind a glass cover when customers walk in, the flavors displayed above it.
“We want it to be an experience when people come in,” he said. “We want to make it a fun thing for them.”
Wallace said he has been running Buy the Dozen Donuts for over a year. He said he had always been a reliable customer there, so it made sense for him to get more involved in the shop.
“I purchased it off of another lady who started it at the Farmers’ Market,” Wallace said. “She didn’t have a store at first, but then it got really popular.”
Joleen Evans | Argonaut
Tony and Theodore Sarticchio enjoy their freshly made donuts from Buy The Dozen.
Buy the Dozen Donuts strictly specializes in mini donuts now. Wallace said in the past there was a brief stint where they made homemade full-size donuts, but in the end it didn’t work out. He said that in the future he hopes to bring them back.
“We’re trying to get it to grow,” he said. “We’re trying to be at more events.”
The shop has 24 different flavors that customers can put on their donuts. Wallace said that new ones are always in development.
The new flavors are employee Amanda Kelly’s favorite part.
“We specialize in many different flavors,” she said. “We have glazes and sugars, and we’re trying to change our presentation.”
Before now, Wallace said they just put donuts in a bag and sold them to the customers. Now, they put the donuts on trays to improve the presentation. Another big transition they have made is changing the sizes that people can order, he said.
In the past, Buy the Dozen Donuts only sold mini donuts in a dozen or half-dozen packs, but now there are four sizes. He said that they have even introduced a child size.
On the other side of the counter, Tony Serticchio and his young son Theodore are regulars at Buy the Dozen Donuts. Tony said they go together every Saturday. The father and son love the donuts.
A Buzzfeed article recently named Buy the Dozen Donuts as Idaho’s best donut shop.
“I thought that was really cool. I have no idea how we pulled that off,” Wallace said.
For Wallace, the biggest challenge is managing the shop along everything he has going on in his life, he said.
“As an owner with another day gig, trying to keep an eye on both businesses is a challenge,” he said.
Wallace does not have to do it on his own though — his children also work at Buy the Dozen Donuts. Some of the biggest changes Wallace wants to make to the shop are cosmetic.
He said he hopes to feature a step stool so kids can see how the donuts are made over the counter. He said he also wants to potentially open more locations in the future.
Carly Scott can be reached at [email protected]