Hungry customers go nuts over donuts
Published on August 14th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The aromatic and inviting scent of Hank’s Bakery has been luring visitors to come inside the Stoneham square eatery and sample their jelly donuts, specialty muffins, frosted clown cookies and jimmy cups for over eighty years. The bakers at Hank’s have always prided themselves on their excellence in baking everything on site, but the Stoneham baking institution may now be paying a bit for their consistently delicious baked goods.
The new owners of Hank’s Bakery have decided to make some hard decisions in their array of product, and some of their omissions have touched off loyal customers.
“When patrons go into Hank’s Bakery in the square, they find a stacked notice citing coming changes,” wrote one Stonehamite in a letter signed “a dedicated customer. “It goes on to tell of new additions in breads, cheesecakes and other high end products...Then there’s the “however, in order to make room a few of the existing will no longer be available’ portion of the notice.”
“The classic Hanks Jelly Donut, better than any franchise product around, is making room for a chocolate Mousse Tort,” added the incredulous customer.
The standard that Hank’s holds to being better than any franchise may also be the reason for the jelly filled downfall. According to Hank’s owner and manager, Denise Symes, their desire to continue to bake everything in house has caused them to make decisions recently that were as hard as a two day-old Finnegan.
“Many of our competitors are freezing product, and then thawing it in the morning to cut costs and streamline the baking process,” said Symes. “We pride ourselves on being a scratch bakery (as in makes everything from), and don’t want to convert to the freeze and thaw baking method.”
According to Symes, the world of bakeries has continually changed over the years, and it was time for Hank’s to join the 21st century.
“Most people really don’t make special trips to the bakery for donuts or donut holes anymore,” said Symes. “We think people will make special trips to Hank’s for our fabulous new cakes like the turtle cheesecake with caramel and pecans. We really feel that this is the natural direction that any bakery has to take, and Hank’s is no exception.”
The emergence of Dunkin’ Donuts and supermarket bakeries (as well as the looming frosted specter of Krispy Kreme franchises soon coming to the Boston area) certainly put a considerable dent in the Stoneham demand for Hank’s donuts, and the extra work didn’t seem to merit the demand.
“The donuts take longer to make than anything else in the bakery during the morning, and need their own special machine taking up space in the back,” said Symes. “From a business perspective, it wasn’t going to be financially responsible to continue making donuts.”
The dedicated customer continued the baker’s list of unhappiness with the donut decisions, and wondered aloud about another pair of Hank’s staples.
“Also departing are the donut holes that coined the phrase ‘I bet you can’t eat just one’ long before the commercial used the line,” said the customer. “To top it off, rumor has it (and I do stress rumor) that the jimmy cups are also on the endangered list... enough already.”
The complaining customer is unfortunately right as Symes also confirmed the demise of the donut holes, jimmy cups and plain oatmeal cookies, but will also begin offering new breads like Tuscan white and sourdough, shortbread cakes, the Chocolate Henry, new muffin options, and a selection of sugar-free and low fat products.
Symes disagreed with the notion that Hank’s is turning from a bakery into a gourmet cake shop, and simply felt like they were adding to the variety at Hank’s. Hank’s owner admitted that there had been some customer opposition to the changes, but thought the change would be good in the long run for Hank’s.
“The bakery business is going through some challenging times right now, and we’re just trying to continue the relationship that Hank’s shares with their customers,” said Symes. “We’ve been here for almost 100 years, and we’re hoping decisions like this will allow us to be here for the next 100 years.”
Hank’s will, in all probability, win over many of the skeptics with their new cakes made from homemade recipes, but it sounds as if they may have lost one loyal customer.
“Hank’s has become a part of our lives because of the staples we have all come to appreciate and enjoy,” said the customer. “Sorry, but a slice of cheesecake with caramel and pecans doesn’t do it for me at coffee time.”
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!