Tasty Donuts Lanett sweetens the community
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LANETT — Providing a sweet treat at a colorful shop, Tasty Donuts Lanett offers a variety of tasty breakfast options and caffeinated beverages to start the day.
“We have a variety of donuts from original glaze, chocolate, maple caramel, sprinkles, to cake donuts,” said Owner and Operator Gigi Chhim. “And then we’ve got different kinds of pigs in a blanket, as well as, apple fritters [which are] one of the best sellers — besides the original glaze and the donut holes.”
Chhim said she was inspired to open Tasty Donuts after seeing a donut shop owned by a family member in Georgia.
“We stopped by for a couple of days, and somehow we fell in love with the idea of having our own business, making donuts for people and being a part of their morning routine,” she said. “We took over [the location in Lanett] in 2017, and we basically added more life to it. Instead of just running a business, we changed the color, we changed the identity of that donut shop to make it have a colorful theme. We have employees who greet customers with a smile on their face, [so that even when customers] don’t have a happy day or a happy morning when they wake up, they can come in and walk out with a smile.”
With Chhim recently opening a new location in Opelika, called KLM Donuts, she said the support of her customers in Lanett has helped her grow.
“It’s an honor to be able to expand our business, with all the support in Lanett,” she said. “We have people driving from Lanett just to come to the Opelika store to try it out. We were able to get through COVID twice [with our customers in Lanett], and we were able to survive with the support from the community.”
With the addition of the location in Opelika, Chhim said she is thankful for her employees who have helped her during the transition.
“I want to thank them so much that, because without them, I wouldn’t be able to run it by myself,” she said. “They were willing to put in extra hours coming from Lanett to Opelika to help us, and also [thanks to] the new employees who were able to help us through these opening days.”
After around a decade of serving sweets to locals, Chhim said she has gotten to know her customers and enjoys being a morning stop to help them start their day.
“Seeing our customers has become like a routine,” she said. “One of the supervisors, Misty, knows [our regular customers’] order to the exact amount. People come in with a smile — sometimes they’ll be tired, but we’ll talk to them — [they can get] some drinks and some donuts so they’ll be able to stay awake and continue their drive to work. But it’s our honor to be able to be a part of their morning routine. [I also enjoy] seeing kids come in with a big smile on their face, and then seeing people get to enjoy their little sweet apple fritter and get a coffee, it just makes us happy.”
For more information, visit Tasty Donuts-Lanett on Facebook.
