Today we’d like to introduce you to Rod Moruss.
Rod, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We learned of the franchise in 2016 from my sister-in-law who has a store in Pittsburgh, PA, where the concept started. We fell in love with the size, creativity and options of the donuts, as well as the experience of having your donut made right in front of you as it’s ordered.
I have lived in Grapevine since moving to the DFW area in 2004 and new I wanted our first store to be in the Grapevine/Southlake/Keller/Colleyville area. After looking around, we realized there wasn’t another donut shop that provided this experience and coincidentally, the only donut shop in Southlake had just closed/moved. We opened our doors on June 5, 2017, and have been serving the grooviest little donuts around since.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s not always groovy, but we have been blessed with the support of the great surrounding communities, the city of Southlake, Carroll ISD and local businesses and Churches. It is tough at times. There are months like January when everyone is making New Year’s resolutions and trying to work off the holiday eats. 😉
Now working through the Covid pandemic, we’ve had to adjust and figure things out from keeping the store sanitized and safe for our guests, to the added expenses for PPE and cleaning supplies that can be hard to find. Also, the office crowd is a lot smaller with people working from home and we don’t see as many orders for school/classroom treats, but again the support from the community, city and local businesses has been awesome.
Peace, Love and Little Donuts of Southlake – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a unique donut shop. Our donuts are made fresh all day, we don’t make up the day’s donuts early in the morning and then sell from those trays. When the guest comes in they see a visual display with our menu of donuts. We then top the donut as it’s ordered. All of our donuts are the same base old fashioned cake batter and same size, 1/3-1/2 size of a normal donut. We are known for our specialty “funkadelic” donuts. Think maple bacon, Oreo, salted caramel macchiato and Samoa just to name a few, but we also have the simple iced donuts as well as the traditional cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar and glazed. In total, we have over 50 different donut options.
We are most proud of the experience our guests receive and the product they receive. To see the eyes of our guests light up, and the ooh’s and aah’s as we make their donuts, it is so awesome to see. We see it from our little donut connoisseurs all the way to the adults. One of my favorite moments was when a gentleman who was originally from Mexico City came in and tried our cinnamon sugar donut. He literally had tears coming down his cheeks as he told me about an older gentleman that had a donut cart at the end of the street where he grew up, and when he tried our donut, it took him back to his days as a child there.
What sets us apart is the experience and the vast number of options we have for our donuts. We don’t ever run out of or sell out of our donuts as we are making them fresh all day and top them as they are ordered. We’re not the type of shop that only makes a certain amount or closes the doors when the donut are gone, we’ll just make another batch when we need them. 🙂
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Being accepted into the community by the people, the local businesses, the city and the school district. It’s a great feeling to see families walking and biking up from the neighborhood to the shop, and to talk with our guests and have them tell us this is their weekly tradition. Knowing we are a small part of the memories being created and that these children and parents may someday look back on their times here enjoying our donuts makes all of the early mornings and long days worth it.
Pricing:
- Groovy – granular, glazed, powdered and plain; $.90 single, $4.85 1/2 dozen, $9.00 dozen
- Far Out – frosting and nothing else; $1.20 single, $6.55 1/2 dozen, $12.95 dozen
- Funkadelic – frosting and anything else; $1.45 single, $8.00 1/2 dozen, $15.85 dozen
- Disco 1/2 dozen – (2) groovy, (2) far out, (2) funkadelic; $6.75
- Disco dozen – (4) groovy, (4) far out, (4) funkadelic; $13.25
- Disco Party Box – holds 3 dozen donuts; pricing based on donuts/categories selected
Contact Info:
- Address: 601 E. Southlake Blvd.
Suite 100 Southlake, TX 76092 - Website: https://www.peaceloveandlittledonuts.com/
- Phone: 817-329-3082
- Email: plldtexas@gmail.com
- Instagram: @plldsouthlake
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeaceLoveandLittleDonutsSouthlake/
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