CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Scrumptious sweets abound at Daylight Donuts, Southern Utah’s traditional donut shop offering a wide variety of melt-in-your-mouth goodies. They’re distinctively light in texture, big in flavor and baked fresh every morning — never frozen or left over from the previous day.
Daylight Donuts‘ St. George location recently came under new ownership, but they’re still serving up the same tasty goodness that customers have adored for years. In fact, they’ll be celebrating the company’s 70th anniversary on Wednesday, Feb. 28, with donuts starting at only 70 cents each.
“This is the cheapest we’ve ever done donuts,” said Tony Chambers, the store’s owner. “We just want to make a big deal out of it.”
Daylight Donuts will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and selling all of their classic donuts for just 70 cents. Flavors include chocolate cake, cinnamon cake, blueberry, coconut, orange frosted, vanilla sprinkled and many more. The sale price is limited to two dozen donuts per customer.
“We’ll be there all day making donuts,” Chambers said. “If you want the freshest donuts you’ve ever tasted in your life, these suckers are going to be coming straight out of the fryer and into the boxes.”
Daylight Donuts initially opened in St. George in 2007 and moved to its current location on Bluff Street 10 years ago. The store was purchased last April by Chambers and his wife Ricki, the owners of the Dixie Direct Savings Guide.
Known as “Southern Utah’s No. 1 source for savings,” Dixie Direct helps local families stretch their budgets with discounts and special offers at participating restaurants and retailers throughout the area. Much more than simply a coupon book, however, the Chambers have also helped raise nearly $5 million for Washington County’s schools since founding the company in 1997.
Along with old-fashioned donuts, Daylight Donuts offers delicious apple fritters, bear claws, honey buns, knots and more.
It’s also the only local donut shop offering free delivery for business customers throughout the greater St. George area every morning. Six days a week, the Chambers and their crew are on the road bringing sweet treats to gas stations, car dealerships, golf courses and more, all for no extra charge.
“Who doesn’t want donuts?” Chambers said. “It’s so much fun. We’ve fallen in love with it since we’ve taken over.”
Tommy and Lucille Day started the Daylight Donut Flour Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1954. They produced their famous light donut mix each morning and sold it to shops every afternoon, mostly from the trunk of their car. By 1960, sales of Daylight Donuts products had increased so dramatically that they were able to hire two additional employees and build a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
The Days retired in 1977 and sold their company to Jerry and Linda Hull. By that time, over 200 Daylight Donuts locations were operating across the country, and a fleet of delivery trucks soon followed.
John and Sheila Bond purchased Daylight Donuts from the Hulls in 2002. Over the past 22 years, the Bonds have continued to develop new products and ideas in an expanded 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.
Today, having served countless donuts to satisfied customers all across America, Daylight Donuts’ expansion continues at a steady pace, with an average of 35 locations opening each year. The company is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a renewed commitment to serving store owners and customers through continuously improving ingredients, products, production techniques and business practices.
Each of Daylight Donuts’ more than 700 locations nationwide buys their dough directly from the company’s manufacturing facility. It’s made with the same proprietary recipe that the Days created decades ago.
“Every other donut shop in town pretty much uses the same dough. They might fry it different or top it different, but it’s the same dough and that’s what makes Daylight unique,” Chambers said. “I don’t know the secret sauce. I just know people love it.”
All donuts are not created equal. Stop by Daylight Donuts on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to taste the difference for yourself, and visit daylightdonutssaintgeorge.com to learn more.
Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.
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Resources
- Daylight Donuts | Address: 435 N. Bluff St., St. George | Telephone: 435-429-0601 | Hours: Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m. to noon and Friday-Saturday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Website.
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