DENVER — The owners of The Dough Bar, who created a protein donut for those who crave the sugary treat after a workout, now have a new storefront in Denver's River North (RiNo) neighborhood.
Owners Marquez and Ondrea Fernandez came up with the idea while working out.
“Thinking about fast food and candy and donuts while I'm working out,” said Marquez Fernandez. “I think a lot of people do.”
Marquez had no idea a trip to the gym would have ignited a whole new business.
“As he was thinking it'd be really nice to have a doughnut after this but not feel like I blew my work out,” said Ondrea Fernandez.
“We were dating at the time and I ran over to her and said I had this idea,” said Marquez. “We should make protein donuts and ship them across the country.”
Ondrea was immediately on board.
“Marquez always knew he wanted to own his own business he always had that entrepreneurial spirit,” said Ondrea. “He was always waiting for the right idea to hit him.”
With no background in the culinary world, the two went to work and found a recipe.
“My background's in the medical field,” said Marquez. “I'm a nurse.”
“It's sort of became this e-commerce bakery concept,” said Marquez. “We wanted to be able to ship it all across the country and not just be in one location.”
They got to pitch The Dough Bar on Shark Tank in 2018 and they struck a deal.
“It was great. It was an incredible experience, it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Ondrea.
“It's real-life, we really went on there to make a deal,” said Marquez. “We practiced for months. We have their faces on the living room wall and we pitched in front of them.”
As their business grew, so did their need for space. So they opened a storefront in Fort Collins.
“Grow our online business,” said Marquez. “But then also do something a little more decadent and done and more of a splurge which is how the Doughnut Club emerged.”
The fun and the business just kept rolling. They opened their RiNo location just two months ago in the middle of a pandemic.
“How fast it's growing within just two months is really crazy we did not expect to do this well this fast,” said Marquez.
“We felt like this is kind of what the world needs right now something you could have to treat yourself that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg," said Ondrea, "Sincerely donuts make people happy.”
The Doughnut Club is part of a Yelp promotion that starts Aug. 24 “Buy One, Get What?” Buy six doughnuts from The Doughnut Club and get one free when you check in on Yelp.
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