York city centre is set to become the first location in the UK to welcome doughnut firm Project D’s launch into the high street retail market.
Derby-based Project D will be opening its first retail store in Parliament Street, York, in September. The bakery selected York as its first ‘bricks and mortar’ location due to the popularity of its online sales and attendance at its previous pop-up events in and around the city.
Project D’s marketing director and co-founder Max Poynton also said he held a soft spot for York, having spent many holidays in the area as a child and, more recently, as an adult.
“York is such a great fit for our brand,” said Max. “It’s such a cool place to visit, and we’ve always had massive success at the many pop-up events we’ve done there. I love going back there as often as I can, having fallen in love with the city as a young child.
“Whenever we’ve visited more recently, people have often asked us when we’re going to open up a permanent retail store there. Well, it’s coming very soon – and we are so excited. We are confident that our doughnuts are second-to-none. Their premium quality is the perfect match for a premium city like York.”
The new 500 sq ft Project D shop is currently being fitted-out at the former Carphone Warehouse store, at 10 Parliament Street, between HSBC and Vision Express. The company’s bright pink branding, which mirrors its best-selling ‘Homer’ doughnut – inspired by cartoon character Homer Simpson – will make the store difficult to miss.
The firm is expecting to open at least three stores this year, one of which will be at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, in Sheffield. Further new stores are set to follow next year.
The retail expansion is part of a long-term plan to build a large-scale presence in UK high streets and out-of-town retail centres, continuing a vision that was delayed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is the future of Project D,” added Max. “And we are massively fired-up by the prospect.”
Max co-founded Project D in 2018 alongside his former school friends Matt Bond and Jacob Watts. The firm operates from a purpose-built, 11,000 sq ft bakery that currently makes about two million doughnuts per year but has capacity to manufacture up to 17 million.
Project D has already partnered with major brands including Brewdog, British Airways, Love Island, Coca-Cola, Greene King and Amazon.
