Voodoo Doughnut, a Portland, Oregon based doughnut shop with a cult-like following, opened in Tempe Thursday morning. This is the first location for the storied doughnut store in Arizona.
The line was long and the sun was beaming, but that did not stop people forming a line down the street to get their first Tempe-made Voodoo Doughnut.
Chris Schultz, CEO of Voodoo Doughnut, said the location, less than a block south of campus on Rural Road, is perfect for the community and students around the area. College students, notoriously night owls, will surely appreciate the shop's late-night hours, open until 3 a.m. daily.
"It made sense for us, right?" Schultz said. "There’s a great combination of students and people who live in the community, and tourists.”
This Voodoo Doughnut is not the first location to be next to a college campus. Schultz said there are stores in Boulder, Colorado, and Eugene, Oregon.
"All former Pac-12 teammates, but I’m all about those Sun Devils," Schultz said.
Abby Taylor, a junior studying English literature and justice studies, is just one of many students that will test out the new doughnut shop.
"I feel like it’s a good location and a lot of college students will be going there," Taylor said. "They’re definitely going to be getting business at all hours."
The trendy location has become popular on social media as other students such as Ava Frias, a junior studying business marketing, learned about the shop online. She said their online presence helps them attract college students specifically.
"I’m really looking forward to trying it because I’ve never had one close to me before," Frias said. "I feel like it’s a good demographic of college students and it’s also trendy online."
Now students on the Tempe campus have a new spot just down the street that embraces the Sun Devil community. On a wall outside the entrance, there is a mural dedicated to the University, as well as several other works of art inside the store by local artists. One pays tribute to Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter – an ASU alumna. It includes the traditional Voodoo custom black velvet painting that is unique at each Voodoo Doughnut shop.
If customers need any help with choosing which doughnut to get, Schultz recommends the maple bacon doughnut, which was voted America’s greatest doughnut two years in a row. Voodoo also offers vegan options.
"You can take an hour, or as long as you want at the cash register to decide what you want," Schultz said. "Just enjoy your time in a doughnut shop."
Sydney Gaubert, a customer at the grand-opening who had the doughnuts at both the Los Angeles and Portland locations, said she approved of the variety they sold in Tempe.
"(Voodoo) has vegan options so that’s nice because most places that make doughnuts don’t," Gaubert said.
Schultz said the store is here to stay.
"They've been baking since 8 o'clock last night," Schultz said. "I promise we are not running out of doughnuts."
Jasmine Kabiri contributed to this reporting.
Edited by Grey Gartin, Shane Brennan and Grace Copperthite.
Reach the reporter at lboykins@asu.edu and follow @BoykinsLauren on X.
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