{
 "id": "krispy-kreme",
 "type": "org",
 "names": {
  "name": "Krispy Kreme",
  "aliases": [
   "Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc."
  ],
  "said": "The name is a deliberate misspelling of crispy cream, and it has been for ninety years."
 },
 "region": [
  "the-south",
  "us"
 ],
 "facets": {
  "state": "NC",
  "status": "open",
  "founded": 1937
 },
 "text": {
  "what": "The Winston-Salem company built on a bought yeast-raised recipe, a window you can watch the line through, and a lit sign.",
  "story": "Vernon Rudolph bought the recipe from a New Orleans chef and rented a building in 1937 in what is now historic Old Salem. Steady growth ran to an expansion as a public company between 2000 and 2016 that proved unprofitable; JAB Holding took it private in 2016; it listed again on the Nasdaq in July 2021. Headquarters moved to Charlotte in December 2017, with most operations left in Winston-Salem. A group of franchisees had bought the company back from Beatrice Foods in 1982, ten years after Beatrice acquired it.",
  "today": "The early-2010s tunnel-oven shops keep the hot sign lit all day, which is a different promise from the one the sign made in 1937."
 },
 "kin": [
  {
   "to": "southern-hot-now",
   "as": "The style it built.",
   "rel": "style"
  },
  {
   "to": "vernon-rudolph",
   "as": "Who started it.",
   "rel": "person"
  },
  {
   "to": "hot-now",
   "as": "The sign.",
   "rel": "term"
  },
  {
   "to": "krispy-kreme-challenge",
   "as": "The race students run at it.",
   "rel": "event"
  }
 ],
 "sources": [
  "s:wp-krispy-kreme"
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "default": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:wp-krispy-kreme"
  },
  "fields": {
   "names.said": {
    "tier": "tradition"
   }
  }
 },
 "schema": 1,
 "confidence": "high",
 "updated": "2026-09-16",
 "blurb": "The Winston-Salem company built on a bought yeast-raised recipe, a window you can watch the line through, and a lit sign.",
 "region_terms": [
  {
   "key": "the-south",
   "name": "The American South",
   "state": null
  },
  {
   "key": "us",
   "name": "The United States",
   "state": null,
   "note": "use when a node belongs to the whole country"
  }
 ],
 "kin_out": [
  {
   "to": "southern-hot-now",
   "type": "style",
   "name": "The hot light",
   "as": "The style it built.",
   "rel": "style"
  },
  {
   "to": "vernon-rudolph",
   "type": "person",
   "name": "Vernon Rudolph",
   "as": "Who started it.",
   "rel": "person"
  },
  {
   "to": "hot-now",
   "type": "term",
   "name": "Hot now",
   "as": "The sign.",
   "rel": "term"
  },
  {
   "to": "krispy-kreme-challenge",
   "type": "event",
   "name": "Krispy Kreme Challenge",
   "as": "The race students run at it.",
   "rel": "event"
  }
 ],
 "source_list": [
  {
   "id": "s:wp-krispy-kreme",
   "kind": "web",
   "title": "Krispy Kreme — Wikipedia",
   "publisher": "Wikipedia",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krispy_Kreme",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16",
   "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0"
  }
 ],
 "tiers": {
  "text.what": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:wp-krispy-kreme"
  },
  "text.story": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:wp-krispy-kreme"
  },
  "text.today": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:wp-krispy-kreme"
  }
 },
 "primary_image": null,
 "tag_facts": [],
 "recognition_facts": [],
 "acclaim": 0,
 "kin_in": [
  {
   "from": "southern-hot-now",
   "type": "style",
   "name": "The hot light",
   "as": "The company that built the window.",
   "rel": "org"
  },
  {
   "from": "vernon-rudolph",
   "type": "person",
   "name": "Vernon Rudolph",
   "as": "The company.",
   "rel": "org"
  },
  {
   "from": "krispy-kreme-challenge",
   "type": "event",
   "name": "Krispy Kreme Challenge",
   "as": "The shop at the turnaround.",
   "rel": "org"
  },
  {
   "from": "hot-now",
   "type": "term",
   "name": "Hot now",
   "as": "Whose sign it is.",
   "rel": "org"
  }
 ]
}