Krispy Kreme is set to expand across New York City and its surrounding region, including Long Island and New Jersey, after announcing a new franchise development agreement to open 33 shops across the New York metro area over the next five years. The deal hands the build-out to Original Entrepreneurs LLC, a franchise group that already runs a dozen Krispy Kreme locations in New Jersey and New York.
The expansion plan, reported Tuesday by Seeking Alpha, comes as Krispy Kreme leans harder into franchisee-funded growth rather than opening and operating its own stores. Original Entrepreneurs entered the Krispy Kreme system in 2017 with a store in Jersey City and has since expanded into New Jersey markets including Springfield, East Rutherford, Paramus, and Lakewood before pushing into New York, according to Business Wire.
Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth said the agreement fits the company's shift toward what Business Wire quoted him describing as “capital-light franchise growth,” while Original Entrepreneurs principals Karl Halligan and John Mondry voiced confidence in brand demand across the region, the newswire reported.
Tripling a Modest Footprint
The chain operates 361 stores nationwide as of late 2026, and the 33-shop commitment would substantially expand its presence across the New York metro area.
New York City isn't new territory for the brand — Krispy Kreme first entered the market in 1996, according to a TradingView account of the chain's history. The company, founded in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1937, expanded aggressively after its 2000 IPO, growing to 338 U.S. factory stores by 2004 before overexpansion forced it to close more than 240 U.S. locations between 2004 and 2009, the same report notes.
That boom-and-bust history sits in the background of the new rollout, a 33-shop franchise expansion across the New York metro area.
A Franchise-Led Growth Strategy
The New York push reflects Krispy Kreme's broader reliance on franchise development to expand its footprint.
The company's franchise-led growth strategy is intended to limit the capital required for expansion.
Krispy Kreme is also targeting at least 100 shop openings worldwide.
Legal Backdrop Still Lingers
The expansion news arrives against a backdrop of recent legal exposure for the company. Krispy Kreme agreed in mid-2026 to a $1.616 million class-action settlement resolving claims tied to a November 2024 cybersecurity incident that compromised personal data for nearly 162,000 individuals, a case Hoodline previously covered. The court-approved settlement offered documented loss reimbursements up to $3,500 or flat cash payments to affected customers.
Whether the New York metro bet pays off the way the company hopes will depend on how well the rollout holds up against the kind of rapid overexpansion that burned the chain two decades ago. For now, the agreement with Original Entrepreneurs marks one of Krispy Kreme's largest single domestic regional commitments as it tries to grow without taking on the debt load that defined its earlier expansion era.
