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Non-Tech : Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (KKD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Khymn who wrote (862)	4/13/2004 9:28:54 PM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1001

WSJ -- A Sweet Dream: Krispy Kreme Looks to the Land of Rising Sun. April 14, 2004 A Sweet Dream: Krispy Kreme Looks to the Land of Rising Sun By GINNY PARKER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Global-Dining Inc., a Tokyo-based restaurant chain, is in talks with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. to jointly bring the U.S. doughnut chain's shops to Japan, according to a senior executive at Global-Dining. The Japanese company last met with Krispy Kreme in February at the doughnut maker's Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters, said Michael Nishi, Global-Dining's chief financial officer. The company is waiting for Krispy Kreme to make a decision about whether to go ahead with the partnership. "We are interested, but the ball is in their court," Mr. Nishi said. He added that the two parties haven't worked out details of the venture, and that Krispy Kreme may be talking to other potential partners. A spokeswoman for Krispy Kreme, Amy Hughes, said the company is eager to expand in Japan, but declined to discuss any possible tie-ups. Japan "is a huge market with a tremendous amount of spending and a history of success for Western brands," she said. A move into Japan would be Krispy Kreme's first foray into Asia and in line with its recent push outside the U.S. The company has stores in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, and recently opened a store in Mexico City. Global-Dining, which operates theme restaurants in Japan and California, says the appeal of Krispy Kreme is the chain's "entertainment factor." Some Krispy Kreme stores feature what the company calls a "doughnut theater," which allows customers to watch doughnuts as they emerge from the ovens on a conveyor belt. A number of U.S. fast-food chains have entered Japan, with varying degrees of success. The country is the largest market outside the U.S. for McDonald's Corp. and coffee chain Starbucks Corp. But others, such as Burger King Corp., failed to attract Japanese consumers. Krispy Kreme's main competitor in Japan would be Mister Donut, a Japanese chain owned by Duskin Co., an Osaka-based cleaning-equipment company. In 1998, the Japanese licensee of Allied Domecq PLC's Dunkin' Donuts, another U.S.-based doughnut chain, closed its stores after failing against market leader Mister Donut. Write to Ginny Parker at ginny.parker@wsj.com Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.