No late risers: KC’s hottest line leads to a sell-out doughnut; owners balance appetite with days-long production

At 4:45 a.m. on a rainy Saturday morning, Susan Worrel of Overland Park was first in line at the new Slow Rise doughnut shop by her subdivision. 

She had tried the week before, arriving an hour before the doors opened, only to find a line of hungry would-be diners stretching down the shopping center. The shop sold out shortly after opening. 

Weekend after weekend, hundreds of fans are showing their willingness to take that chance on Slow Rise. One self-described doughnut snob even drove hours from North Carolina.

“They really have something special — so light and fluffy and the flavors — the (ube) coconut, the blood orange raspberry, the cinnamon,” said Worrel, who plans to stop in once or twice a month.

But this one-day-a-week operation — well, now two days — is triggering others.

One social media commenter posted: “Why have a storefront that is only open on Saturday morning and you know you’re going to be sold out before it’s even time for the store to open? Strange business plan.”

Why, indeed? 

Here’s a look at this mom-and-pop’s journey from farmers market favorite to two-day-a-week operation (and its plans to transition to a full-time shop).

Filling a hole in the market

Doughnuts are a safe business bet.

The U.S. market size for these sweet pastries is projected to grow significantly, reaching an estimated value of USD $4.20 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights, driven by doughnuts’ enduring popularity with consumers and the increasing number of restaurant chains putting it on their menu. Online sales even sped up during the COVID-19 pandemic when other bakeries were closing.

Fortune also cites successful brands’ new products as another growth factor, including a focus on healthier options, gluten-free and sugar-free doughnuts.

Slow Rise offers an unusual twist — sourdough doughnuts stuffed with freshly made fillings, from salted miso caramel to blood orange raspberry to Bavarian. It even has some savory selections, like the Everything Doughnut, a take on an Everything Bagel with cream cheese, roasted garlic and chives, and coated with Everything Bagel seasoning.

Great product with a loyal and growing following? Check.

But high-growth businesses like Slow Rise need more.

“They need to have the cash to sustain it, to keep the momentum going; operational systems defined to ensure quality control; and provide a great customer experience,” said Stephanie Willis, certified growth and exit planner with the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park. “You can have the best product in the world but if you don’t have all those things you are not going to have a sustainable business.”

Putting a ring on it

Slow Rise co-owner Jessica Dunkel grew up in Indonesia, moving to Oklahoma in 2000 with her childhood best friend. She lived with that friend and her older brother, joining high school mid-year as a junior.

And while she spoke English, it was not the language her family had used at home. For Jessica, who calls herself an introvert, new friends made the transition bearable, she said.

She earned a nutrition degree from Oklahoma State University and then a master’s in food science, wanting to learn not only how popular foods are made, but also what new products could be developed.

That’s where she met her future husband, Jeff Dunkel. After he graduated and served six months in the U.S. Air Force in Kuwait, they married and settled in Kansas. Jessica worked for a large food supplier for 15 years.

“I love to bake. It’s part science, part art,” she said. “There are certain rules but it gives you some creative freedom.”

She combined her two passions in a new sourdough doughnut starter in 2022, going through “numerous iterations” before getting a final version that pleased Jeff, another of those self-described doughnut snobs. 

“He loved them,” Jessica said. 

They started giving the sourdough doughnuts away to their De Soto neighbors, friends and co-workers. Next came testing how they would sell at the Lawrence Farmers Market.

“Apply to see what happens. It’s not real yet, maybe they will say no,” Jessica recalled. “Then when we were accepted we started to panic. ‘OK, we are going to start a business.’” 

It was cheaper to sign up for the fully season. But the first Saturday their sourdough batch didn’t rise. The next Saturday they had the doughnuts — Nutella and classic — but potential customers were hesitant: What kind of pastries are these?

The Dunkels explained and quickly sold their 75 doughnuts. They figured if they could sell 100 a week, it would pay for summer camp for their three young sons.

“It was hard to put yourself out there,” she said. “We like them, but that doesn’t mean they will sell. But Jeff really believed in me.”

Proofing their concept

Word-of-mouth had customers lining up and they sold more each week. They experimented with occasional pop-ups across the Kansas City metro, setting up at breweries and coffee shops. Then in 2024 — following pleas from their Johnson County customers — the couple expanded to the Overland Park Farmers Market. They switched between the two markets every other week. 

“It’s low risk. People are already there, hungry, looking for something unique,” Jessica said.

Instead of a summer camp fund, the Dunkels plowed the profits back into the business with Jeff even building a tiny commercial kitchen in their basement. 

But Jessica didn’t want to be stuck with a commercial mixer if the business didn’t work out, so she opted for a standard mixer … then another one to keep up with demand.

They called it Slow Rise — an intriguing name that serves as a conversation starter and plays up its difference from other doughnuts. 

Jessica, now 40, quit her corporate job to become a full-time entrepreneur.

“It’s scary to start over at this age,” she said.

The basement kitchen had been just big enough for her, limiting the amount she could make each week.

“What’s the next step?” she said she asked herself. “At some point you have to grow.”

Then commercial brokers came calling. 

Popping to brick-and-mortar

Businesses moving from a pop-up with limited overhead (a tent, a table and minimum rent) to a brick-and-mortar with a lot (utilities, insurance, commercial equipment and increased rent) need a strategic plan, said Willis of the KSBDC.  

“How many doughnuts do you need to sell to meet expenses? How much can they do by themselves? How much more with employees? How many more days do they need to be open, especially since they have debt to cover,” she said.

And while entrepreneurs can plan down to the penny, Willis said, there are always going to be surprises. She urged a three-month buffer of savings to cover working capital. 

Not like other doughnuts

Jessica spends Mondays and Tuesdays buying the freshest produce she can find, and making the filling for that week’s doughnuts. 

Wednesday is “go time.” She starts the sourdough, which takes three days to proof. Then she makes and pipes them by hand — 50 pounds for a recent key lime doughnut alone.

Jeff almost wishes they had called them something other than doughnuts, he said. He still likes the mass produced ones that can be made quickly and cheaply.

“That’s still my thing. But not a lot of time or effort goes into them,” Jeff said. “There’s no way we can make our doughnuts in that large of quantity. No frozen dough, made fresh on site. If we could mass produce them, would they be the same doughnuts?”

Open one day a week?

The Dunkels had a good business plan. That’s how they got their loan.

Then came those surprises that Willis warns entrepreneurs about.

The couple sought a second-generation restaurant space, thinking they could quickly and cheaply convert it to a doughnut operation. They signed a lease in May, hoping to open in September.

But they discovered it needed a new cooling unit for the walk-in and a new hood for the fryer — $70,000.

Amid a government shutdown, they couldn’t get some equipment through customs. Tariff increases put some pieces on back order, and some increased in cost by 50 percent.

“That blew our budget out of the water,” Jessica said.

“We just have to laugh it off or we would cry. It was one thing after another,” she continued.

So they had to make a decision: Wait until they could open five days a week? Or open just one day a week to bring in some income and see where it takes them?

“Open one day a week. People say, ‘Oh, it’s your marketing strategy,’” Jessica said. “We don’t have a marketing strategy. Some things are just out of our control.”

Get in line

On a bitterly cold Jan. 17, Slow Rise tried a surprise opening in St. Andrews Plaza, 11228 W. 135th St. in Overland Park, just giving its social media followers 30 minutes notice. (Jessica was afraid of a repeat of her first farmers market experience and wanted to make sure she had doughnuts.)

Two months later, they’re selling out — 1,300 to 1,500 doughnuts and growing.

The revenue they’ve plowed back into the business helped buy another fryer and a new mixer with three times the capacity. They now have five part-time workers. But they’ve kept their farmers market prices — $4 for classic, $5 for filled, even with ingredient costs increasing.

But Jessica hates turning people away and even a glance at the line makes her anxious. 

So she sticks close to the kitchen.

Jeff travels down the line, counting up the number of doughnuts each customer plans to order. (The Dunkels had polled customers who suggested limiting orders to a dozen or less per person). Then he warns those at the end they probably won’t be partaking that day.

He puts a “sold out” sign out front for those just arriving. 

Customers pass the time in conversation, playing board games. One man even read a book. Once the doors open, the line moves briskly. 

But Jessica read one review that gave Slow Rise just one star — not for the doughnuts, which they loved, but for the line. Many reviewers gave them five stars. 

On an especially cold day in February, the Dunkels let customers in early while they finished making the doughnuts. Then someone driving by later complained, “You said you didn’t open until 9.”

Neighboring tenants in the shopping center don’t seem bothered by the line. Several don’t open until lunchtime or are closed on Saturdays. And the McGregor’s Butcher & Bisto general manager used the opportunity to plug his hot breakfast sandwiches.

Jeff has now transitioned to working full-time at Slow Rise while consulting part-time. So they’ve added Friday hours. In early weeks, the line is about half as long as Saturday.

Turning back is a non-starter

The Dunkels said some people come by just to see what the hype is about. But more than 50 percent of customers return.

“The hard work is worth it because of how wonderful they are,” Jessica said. “They stop us and let us know we are doing a good job. I’m so thankful for the people who continue to support us.”

The business is turning down catering jobs, weddings and custom orders as they gear up store operations.

Willis said entrepreneurs tend to get into business because of a passion, or just some sort of product or service that they do well. Companies like Slow Rise that experience a surge of early support then need to ensure they sustain it.

“There is a point where you need to step back and access,” she said. “You need to ensure you have longevity and not just riding a fad. What is going to make people come back?” 

Slow Rise’s goal is to be open five days a week — selling the sourdough donuts three days a week, and pastries the other two days — ones that can be made fresh that morning.

“We have bills to pay so we want to be open more hours. And we’ll get there,” Jessica said. “But my goal was just to make a good product that people will come back for and for everyone who walks in the door has the best experience.”

Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.