Frank Lewis | Daily Times
Randall Chamblin (left) and Hila Hall, stand behind the counter at Mrs. Renison’s Crispie Creme Donut Shop at 1202 Gallia Street. The shop reopens for business with the original family recipe donuts Monday morning.
Frank Lewis
PDT Staff Writer
The real honest-to-goodness, original, Renison family recipe Crispie Creme donuts will go back on sale at 5 a.m. Monday morning.
Randall Chamblin and Hila Hall, retired Verizon employees, have purchased the company, researched the original recipe, put a lot of new equipment in the shop, made all of the much-needed repairs, tested three batches with the third bringing the product to perfection and now they are ready to open.
“We’re following Richard’s (Renison) steps, and we’re doing everything he was going to do,” Chamblin said. “We got all of his product. We went back and researched everything that he put in the donuts as far as toppings and everything. That’s what we’re putting in them.”
The shop is located at 1202 Gallia Street across from Portsmouth High School and next door to the Portsmouth Public Library.
“Everything is top quality, A-1, right down to the coffee,” Chamblin said. “It’s a revival is what it is.”
Crispie Creme was started by the Renison family back in 1929 and became an institution through the years. Chamblin said one of the ways he is going to assure Crispie Creme quality is by hiring one of the bakers who worked for the Renison family for 27 years.
“We hired Rick Cooper. He worked with Dick (Renison) for 27 years, and also, he remembers Dick’s father and mother, the original Renisons,” Chamblin said. “He had trained another person, and so actually we have three who are familiar with the way things need to be up here.”
Chamblin and Hall have replaced most of the equipment, restructured the layout, and have taken one more step.
“We put in windows so that customers can see what is being done in the back,” Chamblin said. “We think it’s important that they see where those donuts are being baked.”
Crispie Creme will be open from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@civitasmedia.com
Walt and Marilyn Maze