Voodoo Doughnut
Voodoo Doughnut is an independent doughnut shop based in Portland, Oregon, known for its eclectic decor, and pink boxes featuring the company logo and illustrations of voodoo priests. The company maintains two shops in Portland, two shops in Denver and shops in Eugene, Austin, Houston, Universal City, and Orlando.
History
Voodoo Doughnut was founded in 2003 by Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Richard "Tres" Shannon III. The company’s logo features a version of Baron Samedi, Voodoo Loa of the dead.In 2008, the mayor of Portland, Tom Potter, declared Voodoo's Portland Cream Doughnut the “Official City Doughnut.”
The original location closed between April to June 2011 for remodeling after acquiring the space next door to the south formerly occupied by Berbati's Pan nightclub. Much of the expansion was for the kitchen and customer area was not increased by much.
Voodoo constructed an enlarged version of its signature pink box, which was filled with 3,880 doughnuts weighing 666 pounds, for the Portland Bridge Festival, in August 2011, dubbed by Portland's mayor as the "world’s biggest box of doughnuts”, which was later confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Also in 2011, Voodoo partnered with Rogue Ales to manufacture its most popular doughnut flavors as bottled beer, including Bacon Maple Ale and Chocolate, Peanut Butter, & Banana Ale, the latter being from its Memphis Mafia doughnut, and a tribute to Elvis Presley. That year, the Los Angeles Times referenced Voodoo is an international tourist attraction.
In May 2010, the company opened its first location outside of Portland on East Broadway in Eugene, Oregon.
In December 2013, the company opened its first location outside of Oregon on Colfax Avenue in Denver on Friday the 13th.
In October 2015, the company opened its first location in the state of Texas on Sixth Street in Austin on October 31st.
In March 2017, the company opened its first location in California at Universal CityWalk Hollywood.
In April 2017, the company suspended it's doughnut eating challenge. This came after Travis Malouff, 42, died from "asphyxia, due to obstruction of the airway" while competing in the challenge at the Colfax Avenue location in Denver.
In May 2018, the company opened its first location on the East Coast of the United States in Orlando at Universal CityWalk Orlando
In June 2019, the company opened its second location in Denver on South Broadway on Father's Day.
In January 2020, the company opened its first Houston location in the Heights neighborhood on Washington Ave. on January 15.
As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company received between $1 million and $2 million in federally backed small business loan from First Interstate Bank as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The company stated it would allow them to retain 331 jobs.
In 2020, also during the pandemic, workers at the downtown location unionized, forming the Voodoo Doughnut Workers Union, which is affiliated with the Portland chapter of the Industrial Workers of the World.
Doughnuts
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The company has nine retail outlets. The first opened in 2003 at 22 Southwest 3rd Avenue in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland. Another is just over a mile away, at 1501 Northeast Davis Street ; another is in Eugene, Oregon. To celebrate their fifth anniversary, Voodoo Doughnut opened a second branch at 1501 Northeast Davis Street in the Kerns neighborhood. This began a "soft opening" on May 30, 2008 with limited hours. The official opening was in June 2008 and featured a parade which led from the original location to the new one.Voodoo Doughnut opened a third location in Eugene, Oregon, at the corner of Broadway and Willamette in downtown Eugene. The store began a "soft opening" May 7, 2010 with limited hours. The official opening occurred on June 5, 2010.
A fourth outlet is in Denver, Colorado and a fifth is in Austin, Texas.
A sixth and second location in Denver, Colorado on South Broadway.
A seventh is in Universal City, California at Universal CityWalk, and an eighth in Orlando, Florida.
A ninth and most recent location opened in Houston, Texas on January 15, 2020.
Wedding services
Voodoo Doughnut offers legal wedding services, followed by doughnuts and coffee. In an effort to "ritualize" the name “Voodoo,” both Pogson and Shannon became ordained ministers of the Universal Life Church, and subsequently performed both “real” and “fake” wedding ceremonies in their shops.Nowadays, the shop managers are trained and ordained to perform both legal and non-legal wedding services. Couples that are not interested in getting married at a Voodoo Doughnut location can still order custom wedding doughnuts for their special day.
Television
Voodoo Doughnut has been featured on the Travel Channel's series , by Anthony Bourdain Man v. Food, Doughnut Paradise, and G4's Attack of the Show. It was a destination in the season finale of the 13th season of The Amazing Race.In 2010, television documentary The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! featured a segment in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock paid a visit to the Voodoo Doughnut Too location.
Jay Leno included Voodoo Doughnut in a Tonight Show opening monologue: "Did you hear about the doughnut shop in Portland, Oregon, that has caffeinated doughnuts? Yeah, I guess you can stay awake during your bypass surgery." Voodoo Doughnut would later be mentioned again when Amanda Seyfried appeared on the show in support of her 2012 film, Gone.
The shop's doughnuts, including the distinctive pink box, appeared in a fourth-season episode of the TNT drama series Leverage. This episode of the show, which films in Portland, was the first actually set in the city. Additionally, the pink box has appeared in the second episode of season one of Grimm and the episodes "Like a Virgin" and "All in the Family" in Supernatural.
Voodoo Doughnut Recordings
In 2013, Voodoo Doughnut founders, Cat Daddy & Tres, set up a record label named Voodoo Doughnut Recordings with the intent of establishing a catalog of doughnut-related music and advertising the company's brand. Early novelty acts included the Deep Fried Boogie Band and the Doughnut Boys.The label expanded to other artists such as Poison Idea, The Dandy Warhols, Dead Moon, Smegma, Jerry Joseph and Hazel. The label also releases recordings of comedians such as Ian Karmel.
As of 2017, Voodoo Doughnut Recordings is no longer owned by Voodoo Doughnut and is solely owned by Voodoo Doughnut Founders, Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson and Tres Shannon. They have not released a record since 2016.