Monday, November 6, 2006

'Family-friendly' Sunset Donuts Prospers Next to Starbucks

Excerpted from Nov. 6. 2006 Daily Republic >>click for full story (subscription required)>>

By Brad Stanhope

SUISUN CITY - In the shadow of the world's biggest coffee retailer, Bob Warren sits, reads the newspaper, sips a coffee and enjoys a pastry.

At Sunset Donuts, not Starbucks.

Warren, a 67-year-old tour bus driver, sits near the window at Sunset Donuts, in the Sunset Shopping Center near Rite-Aid.

"I come here anytime I'm off," Warren says. "It's been a little slow. Tourism's been slow. When it's busy, I work every day."

But when it's slow, he's here.

"I always come here to have coffee and associate with the owners," he says, smiling.

The owners are Pisey and Sithul Bou, who've run Sunset Donuts for 15 years. Although it sits a few yards from a Starbucks that opened a year ago, it continues to generate business.

"(Starbucks) hasn't hurt us at all," Pisey Bou says.

No comments: