Scout's Doughnuts is throwing open the doors of its new Simpsonville shop this Saturday, marking the growing Upstate bakery's fourth known storefront since it started as a scrappy pop-up just a few years ago. The grand opening at 109 SE Main St. runs from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 3, with specialty flavors, giveaways and a birthday cake-flavored doughnut on the menu to mark the occasion.
According to the Post and Courier, the celebration will also feature cold brew topped with birthday cold foam, swag bags for the first ten customers through the door, and goodie bags for kids while supplies last. Scout's held a soft opening earlier in September before settling into this weekend's full-scale debut, per the same report. The Simpsonville location sits directly next door to 1885 Taproom, according to Who's On The Move.
From Pop-Up Boxes to a Brick-and-Mortar Empire
Scout's was founded by husband-and-wife team Ryland and JP Rainsford, who built the business from wholesale sales at local coffee shops and pop-ups at other businesses before ever having a storefront of their own, the Post and Courier's report notes. The couple has said they came into the doughnut business with no professional cooking background at all. “None of us had any culinary background coming into this,” they told WYFF 4.
That leap from home kitchen to full bakery paid off fast. WYFF 4 reported that when Scout's opened its Greenville storefront in the historic Overbrook neighborhood in June 2023, the shop sold out of hundreds of doughnuts by 11:15 a.m. From there, the business kept expanding, opening an Anderson location in March 2024, according to the Upstate Business Journal. Scout's also lists a downtown Greenville shop on North Main Street, according to the Post and Courier.
What's Actually in the Case
Scout's built its name on laminated, croissant-style doughnuts that go well beyond a classic glazed ring. The Simpsonville grand opening will showcase that range alongside the birthday cake special, with the shop's broader lineup including goat cheese and fig, strawberry, peaches and cream, blueberry, peaches and basil, and mocha doughnuts, per the Post and Courier's reporting. Gluten-free options are also available for customers who need them.
Sources differ slightly on just how many layers go into each doughnut. The Post and Courier previously described Scout's doughnuts as having 144 layers, while Who's On The Move reported that over 100 layers of butter and dough are carefully laminated into each one. Either way, the lamination process has become the bakery's signature, and the shop has continued dreaming up new combinations since it started — Scout's had developed 39 flavors in a single year, the Post and Courier reported back in 2023.
A Timeline With a Few Blurry Edges
Exactly when Scout's got its start depends on which account you read. WYFF 4 reported that the Rainsfords began selling their first doughnuts in 2021, while the bakery's own website states that the founders brought their first box of handcrafted doughnuts to Bridge City Coffee in February 2022. Either way, what began as a side hustle turned into a business with real staying power, growing from a small home kitchen into a multi-location brand, as WYFF 4 has chronicled.
The couple's doughnuts weren't always sold from a storefront — before Scout's had a permanent address, the Rainsfords were making custom doughnuts for Run-In events, according to the Upstate Business Journal. When the Anderson shop opened, it started with about six to eight doughnut options, compared with the 10 or 12 typically available at the flagship Greenville location, the outlet reported at the time. Simpsonville shoppers curious about what to expect on opening day can head to 109 SE Main St. Saturday morning to see how the new location's selection compares.
