Los Angeles doughnut chain Randy’s Donuts has filed a planning application for its first UK shop, at a former Barburrito unit on Forest Road in Edinburgh. The brand, known for its 32-foot rooftop doughnut sign, is seeking UK franchise partners as it looks beyond its 30 US shops and sites in South Korea, the Philippines, Japan and Mexico.
The application has gone to Edinburgh City Council for a site opposite Middle Meadow Walk, previously occupied by a Barburrito. Randy’s Donuts, founded in 1952 and recognisable from its appearance in Iron Man 2, has not yet named a franchise partner for the UK, and the Edinburgh site would be its first shop in the country. Mark Kelegian, chief executive of Randy’s Donuts, said: “We are thrilled to announce that Randy’s Donuts is coming to the United Kingdom.”
A well-known sign, a new market
Randy’s Donuts is one of the more recognisable American food brands never to have traded in the UK, built around a single Inglewood shop and its giant rooftop doughnut, a Los Angeles landmark since the 1950s. The chain has grown to 30 shops across the United States, plus sites in South Korea, the Philippines, Japan and Mexico, but Edinburgh would mark its first move into Europe, a market entry route set out in what a master franchise is where a single partner takes development rights for a whole country. Its appearance in Iron Man 2 and other films has kept the Inglewood original a tourist stop in its own right, giving the brand name recognition in the UK well ahead of any shop opening here.
Franchise partners still being sought
Randy’s Donuts has previously said it is looking for franchise partners to bring the brand to the UK, though no partner has been named publicly and the company has not published UK franchise terms, a fee or an investment range. The Edinburgh application is the first sign of that search reaching an actual site, ahead of any confirmed plans for London or other UK cities.
Good to know
Randy’s Donuts has not published a UK franchise fee or investment range, and no UK franchise partner has been named. Until those terms appear on the brand’s own site, any figure quoted elsewhere for a UK unit should be treated as unconfirmed, since the UK has no disclosure filing to check it against and the entry figures worth comparing are the ones in what it costs to open a franchise in the UK.
Why Edinburgh
The Forest Road site sits in Edinburgh’s Southside, close to the university and the Meadows, an area with a large student and visitor population passing through year-round. The unit previously traded as a Barburrito, so the application involves converting an existing food premises rather than a new-build shopfront, the lower-cost route into a site that many bakery and pastry franchises recruiting in the UK look for.
A first UK shop for an American brand of this size is normally read as a test of local demand before any wider rollout is committed to, and Edinburgh’s tourism and student footfall make it a plausible testing ground for a brand whose appeal so far rests largely on name recognition rather than an existing UK customer base.
What comes next
The application is still with Edinburgh City Council, and Randy’s Donuts has not confirmed an opening date or said how many further UK shops it is planning beyond the first. Any UK franchise agreement, once signed, would be the first the brand has entered in Europe, and would give a UK operator control of a brand with no existing local competitor selling under the same name.
