Ethan’s Donut Factory welcomed in downtown Hillsdale

HILLSDALE — Downtown Hillsdale has a new breakfast spot as Ethan’s Donut Factory celebrated a soft opening with lines around the block.

“We’ve been blown away by all the love and support,” Ethan’s Donut Factory said in a statement. “Please be patient with us as we continue with our soft opening, so we can get all of our wonderful staff trained.”

The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, said Wayne Babcock, one of the business’s five investors and co-owners.

“It’s been great,” Babcock said. “The community has overwhelmingly welcomed us to town.”

Babcock is working with Matt Taylor, Darin Spieth, Sean Bondra and Richard Moore, all local business owners, to open Ethan’s Donut Factory.

While the shop had a soft opening last Saturday, they are in the process of planning an official grand opening.

“We are working with the city of Hillsdale and our business partnerships to pick a date,” Babcock said. “It will probably be sometime in the first part of June.”

Sabrina Sherman said her family loved their experience at the shop.

“My family went to Ethan’s on Sunday after Mass and it was such a great experience,” Sherman said. “We were greeted and welcomed at the door by one of the owners, given a tour and rundown of the shop and what they currently offer and plan on expanding to include in the future.”

The shop offers all the classic doughnuts, but also signature doughnuts, drinks and more. They hope to slowly expand their selection to include even ice cream, Babcock said.

Sherman said she was shocked by the wide variety of doughnut selections.

“I thought it was just going to be simple glazed doughnuts or cake doughnuts, etc., but no,” she said. “They have a lot of fancy specialty doughnuts that they make right in front of you to order. Maple bacon, lemon blueberry and all sorts of unique creations. They were beautiful!”

This is the first shop of its kind in Hillsdale, where the doughnuts are decorated right in front of the customers.

“I love seeing the reaction of the young kids,” Babcock said. “You don’t see something like this at your local grocery store.”

The shop even offers a coffee club membership to customers who buy one of their signature mugs.

“If you buy a coffee mug from us, you can come in every day, or even three or four times a day, and for $1 you can get our freshly brewed coffee,” Babcock said. “But, if you want a specialty drink with all the fun stuff, you also get $1 off any specialty drink.

Sam Fry, marketing and development coordinator for the city of Hillsdale, said the shop is helping to bring downtown back to life.

“I’m really excited to see the next step in the revitalization of our downtown with the addition of Ethan’s Donut Factory,” Fry said. “A sweet bakery is something that our downtown has really needed, and there are quite a few people, including myself, who have been eagerly waiting for the shop to open.”

Sherman said she is excited to have it as an addition in the community.

“Previously, my friends and I used to have to drive over half an hour away to go to Dutch Uncle Donuts” in Coldwater, Sherman said. “Now, we can support a new, beautiful, local business right downtown!”

Fry added that the shop wouldn’t be possible without business owners willing to invest into the community.

“I applaud the investors and owners for their commitment to breathing new life into our historic downtown with this project,” he said. “Ethan’s Donut Factory is a welcome contribution to the increasing variety of shops and restaurants we have in Hillsdale.”

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Sherman said she hopes the shop will continue to thrive.

“It’s always good to support local, and this is a unique, new, well-run, beautiful business, so I hope they continue to get a lot of love and excitement at their grand opening soon,” she said.

Ethan’s Donut Factory’s temporary hours are 7 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday. It is in downtown Hillsdale at 47 N. Broad St.

— Elyse Apel is a correspondent for The Hillsdale Daily News. She can be reached by email at ehawkins@hillsdale.edu.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Ethan’s Donut Factory welcomed in downtown Hillsdale