Brunswick community celebrates Donut Land opening in new space

BRUNSWICK — Donut Land fans waited in a line stretching outside the door to celebrate the family-owned doughnut shop reopening in a larger space on Friday. "Mr. Bill" opened Donut Land in 1972, and his granddaughter Amanda Rienerth now owns the business. "I constantly just wish that I could reach up to him and talk to him and tell him everything that's going on," she said. "I just know that he would be so happy." Northern Medina County Chamber Alliance Executive Director Debbie Boehmke described Friday as a celebration of both a family business and a Brunswick institution. "For 54 years, Donut Land has been serving generations of families," she said. "Many of us remember stopping in here before school, bringing a dozen doughnuts to the office or introducing our children and grandchildren to this favorite treat. It is one of those rare businesses that creates memories as much as it creates products." Phase one of the space at the former Rite Aid building at 3871 Center Road is complete, which comprised getting the business up and running, Rienerth said. Eventually, Donut Land plans to open a drive-thru window in phase two and a party room in phase three of the project. "In a time that we often hear about businesses leaving town, Amanda (Rienerth's) family has chosen to do the absolute opposite," Boehmke said. "They have chosen to invest in Brunswick. Their decision to purchase and transform this new location demonstrates the confidence in our city, confidence in our residents and confidence in the future of local businesses." Donut Land will be open 24 hours a day from midnight on Tuesdays until 6 p.m. on Sundays, unless they sell out sooner. Rienerth said the reaction to the new location has been "amazingly overwhelming" since the soft opening on Wednesday. "I couldn't even tell you how many people were at the door, but they flooded the lobby as soon as we opened the doors," she said. "Then once we knew that we were operating efficiently and that we could take on our regular customers, we decided to open up to the public. It did not stop all last night, and the line has been out the door since probably about 7:30 a.m." Public officials attended Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and congratulated Rienerth on her accomplishment. "As Oscar Wilde said, 'The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole,'" Commissioner Steve Hambley said. "I see the cream filling, but today, we all need to be optimists, right?" Boehmke said Donut Land is a success story for the Brunswick community. "Perhaps what I admire most about Donut Land is that while this building is bigger, their commitment to this community remains the same," she said. "The recipes, the traditions, the family values and the relations that they have built in our community are the same." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.