A square doughnut drizzled with chocolate, covered with almonds and sprinkled with hazelnuts was sophomore Megan Doran’s favorite Sssdude-nutz choice.
Now, Doran will have to track down the former Dinkytown shop’s food truck to buy the unique doughnut.
Sssdude-nutz closed its doors on May 31 after conflicts between owner Bradley Taylor and the shop’s landlord.
Taylor, who opened Sssdude-Nutz in August 2015, said he did not renew his lease and spent the summer focusing solely on his doughnut truck.
“Right now, the truck is doing really well,” he said. “I knew if I closed the shop it wasn’t like it was the end of everything.”
Randal Gast, local business owner and President of the Dinkytown Business Alliance, said the restaurant industry becomes more competitive daily — especially in Dinkytown.
“Business turnover is a constant challenge, that’s to be expected,” Gast said. “There has been an increasing amount of restaurant capacity added, so therefore the competitiveness of the area has increased.”
Taylor said he thinks there’s a misconception about the advantage of owning a shop in the Dinkytown neighborhood.
“You have so much other competition outside of Dinkytown, especially with Target there and people being able to order groceries and food from practically anywhere,” he said.
Gast said University cafeterias, food trucks, minimum wage increases and online ordering have all put a strain on business in the Dinkytown area.
“You have more choices at your fingertips now than you used to,” Gast said.
Doran said she first stopped by Sssdude-nutz after her orientation leader recommended the shop to her in 2016.
“I’m always a stickler for … regular glazed doughnuts, but they had such fun doughnuts there, how could you not try one?” Doran said.
Doran said she was disappointed Sssdude-nutz closed, and especially enjoyed the pop culture references and the shop’s atmosphere.
“The staff was always friendly and they always had something witty to say,” Doran said. “It was just neat that they catered to the millennial community.”
Doran said she thought the addition of the Canadian doughnut shop chain Tim Hortons, which came to Dinkytown in December 2016, was likely cut into Sssdude-nutz’s business.
Taylor said the Sssdude-nutz truck will still make stops in the University area and students who want to find it can check Instagram or Snapchat.
