Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the first on the Eastern Shore, is expected to open this month on North Salisbury Boulevard, at the former Bay Country Meals location.

Employees are being hired to work in the 4,000-square-foot building now that renovations are complete.

“After spending two years courting Krispy Kreme, trying to convince them they need a location in Salisbury, I finally was able to get their attention and they agreed that Salisbury would be a great fit,” said Wesley Cox of SVN-Miller Commercial Real Estate, who handled the account.

The new building and a one-acre lot were purchased for $1.97 million, from the Hall family that owned English’s restaurants, Cox said. Monument Restaurants, based in Richmond, developed the bakery.

“Krispy Kreme liked it because it was a free-standing building and it had a drive through already in place,” he said.

“Two years ago in February, I met with them and I said, ‘You guys need to pay attention to Salisbury. You need to focus on Salisbury,’” Cox said.

The next year, there was another meeting in Washington, D.C.

“I said, ‘Guys, you need to be in Salisbury. Picking up from our last meeting last year, I now have a site that is off the market. Nobody knows about it. It’s just for you guys,’” he told them.

Krispy Kreme opening in Salisbury “shows the strength of the market here,” Cox said.

“If Krispy Kreme is making this type of investment in the Salisbury market-- because it’s not inexpensive – they feel it’s going to be a very strong market for them,” he said.

An agreement was made and Cox was pleasantly surprised when company officials arrived in Salisbury with boxes of the signature doughnuts.

“They have a machine that can make dozens of doughnuts every minute. It’s a commercial baking machine customized for them for their baking process,” Cox said.

In December, Cox told the Salisbury Independent a franchisee was in place to operate the business and a developer in place from North Carolina “that will do all the construction and get them set up.”

“There is nothing more rewarding in my job than listening to what the public wants and being able to go out and fulfill that need. Krispy Kreme is excited to open this new location in the spring and it should be a strong store for them,” Cox said.

Perhaps as rewarding is the red neon sign.

“If that red sign is on, it’s saying hot doughnuts are ready. It means they are baking right now and those doughnuts melt in your mouth,” Cox said.

Known as the hot light, it has been drawing customers since 1992.

The doughnut company was founded in 1937 by Vernon Rudolph, who bought a secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe from a New Orleans French chef, Krispy Kreme started as a Winston-Salem, N.C., business that sold the pastries to grocery stores.

But, the company Web site explains, “the delicious scent of cooking doughnuts drifted into the streets, and passersby stopped to ask if they could buy hot doughnuts.”

“So, he (Rudolph) cut a hole in an outside wall and started selling hot original glazed doughnuts directly to customers on the sidewalk.”

There are now more than 1,000 stores.