Psycho Donuts Celebrates Three Years

There's no place like it. Local art. Wild themes. Oddball events. Not to mention a donut you'll never forget.

Campbell's turns three today and the business is celebrating with a week-long "Homecoming" of former donuts that are no longer in circulation.

Owner shares a few tidbits with Campbell Patch about his business, his large online following and the donuts that never returned to the front counter.

Campbell Patch: When you first began with the idea of Psycho Donuts, did you think you’d still be here, three years later, not only in business but with a second location, a supportive art community and a whole lotta cyber fans?

Jordon Zweigoron: We knew that most small businesses fail, especially those innovating a completely new concept on a shoestring. For that reason, we worked extremely hard on every aspect of the business. These actions gave us the confidence that we would still be in business three years later.  

Social networking has come a long way in parallel. We knew that our audience would be online, but we didn't know just how much Facebook would matter, and we continue to throw our heart into the Psycho Donuts fan page.  

We are thrilled to be part of the art community in the South Bay. Artists now have a perfect off-beat venue to display their particular style of art; and the walls of Psycho Donuts are a constantly evolving product, much like the donuts!

Patch: What was something unexpected that came out of opening Psycho Donuts?

Zweigoron: We did not expect the controversy, which began just weeks after Psycho Donuts opened. That was certainly unexpected. But even more unexpected was the ultimate resolution path, which led to former protesters becoming Psycho Donuts' friends and customers.

It took some time for our detractors to grasp the irony and satire that defines Psycho Donuts. With our community outreach programs--providing left-overs to homeless shelters, supporting local school fundraisers, sponsoring little league teams, and more--people came to understand that Psycho Donuts was a positive (if not a little off-kilter and misunderstood) addition to the community.

At the conclusion of the controversy in July 2009, there were handshakes and hugs. The following day, members from several mental health groups came in and bought donuts for a meeting. Now THAT was unexpected in a truly positive way.

Patch: What were some of your biggest challenges along the way?

Zweigoron: We learned very quickly that it's great to be a cute novelty shop, but it's not enough to achieve long-lasting success. We learned to stand firmly behind the quality and innovation of our product, and we made some big investments that are paying off.

One of the smartest things we did was to hire a Head Chef (who has since been promoted at General Manager), bridging the gap for the knowledge and experience we lacked. Since that time, we've dramatically improved product quality, and have created new innovations at a staggering pace. The challenge in our business is to be whimsical and unique, while delivering a truly compelling product.

Patch: Name one of your most memorable moments and tell us why that particular one came to mind.

Zweigoron: In a single year, Psycho Donuts was chosen by Maxim Magazine for their "Top 10 Donuts in the US" article. We were featured in Entrepreneur Magazine; and even appeared on "The Today Show."

From our crazy beginning, we had a goal to become "a destination business" in the Bay Area. When we began to attract national press, we knew this goal was in sight. 

Patch: What has been your most popular donut to-date and which one has faded to a memory?

Zweigoron: Our top-seller is probably The Kooky Monster; however some of our Psavory Pselections, like the Canadian Morning Squeal Meal, are quickly catching up!  

One faded donut memory is The CrackerJackNut, which was a raised donut topped with Cracker Jacks. While the taste was really good, the icing from the donut would quickly steal the crunch from The Cracker Jacks. Along the way, we learned many lessons about how to ensure freshness of the donut toppings (as well as the donuts themselves), but the CrackerJackNut never returned to the Psycho donut case!