Doughnut shop hopes to prove it's still hip to be square

Bloomington now boasts some of the edgiest doughnuts in the country.\nSquare Donuts, the first franchise of the Terre Haute landmark, opened downtown Friday to brisk weekend business without any advertising or fanfare.\nThe business's name is a straightforward description of its signature product -- four-sided pastries. Like the trademark "hobble skirt" Coca Cola bottle, it's a Terre Haute original.\nRichard Comer invented the distinctive quadrilateral doughnut in 1967. Coming off a stint in the Marine Corps, and planning to become a science teacher, he helped out at the family business, Tasty Creme Donuts. A salesman walked in one day talking up a square cutter. Comer decided to place an order and give it a trial run.\n"It was a matter of fluke," he said.\nHe soon noticed they were selling at three times the rate of their round counterparts, when displayed side-by-side in the glass case. And so Square Donuts was born.\nIt quickly dominated a mid-sized city market clogged with four doughnut shops. It now has two thriving Terre Haute locations, Comer said, and has had as many as four. Its flagship Third Street store, deemed too small to keep pace with growth, shut its doors last year when the baking was shifted to the more spacious downtown location. The unique doughnuts have garnered national media attention on PBS and Keith Oberman's MSNBC show "Countdown." They show up as a selling point in the travel guide "Oddball Indiana" and are touted on tourism billboards along Interstate 70.\nThe Terre Haute stores attract their share of faithful regulars who come in like clockwork, and Comer estimates that every resident has tried the square treat at least once.\n"The novelty got them in the door," he said. "You need a gimmick to get them in the door. But it's the quality that keeps them coming back."\nOffering the first and only square doughnut in the county for decades, Comer has inspired many imitators from North Carolina to Texas. A Houston-based chain that has taken the name as well as the concept declares in its slogan that its doughnuts "don't cut corners."\nSquare Donuts has strong sales in Terre Haute, said Richard Comer, the third-generation steward of the family business. He said they produce 500 to 600 dozen donuts on an average day.\n"We're very popular with out-of-towners passing by," he said. "Those who travel through on business make it a point to stop by."\nThe Bloomington franchise is just the maiden voyage, Comer said. He'd like to see as many as ten franchises scattered throughout Indiana. Still, he doesn't ever expect to compete with Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts on a national playing field.\n"I want to see it through slowly," he said. "Often, with franchises, in one or two years, the quality drops off from the original."\nWith no national chains outside of the dorms and only two competitors, Bloomington serves as an ideal market for Square Donuts, franchisee Braden Johnson said.\n"It's a unique concept," he said. "And it's close enough that people know about it, know about its reputation."\nJohnson expects the quirky pastries to take off with students. In the fall, he plans to sponsor an eating contest to establish a presence on campus.\nHe won't try to compete with the many local coffee shops.\n"We plan to keep it pretty no-frills with the coffee," he said. "We won't have any cappuccino, just good strong coffee to start the day."\nBy week's end, Johnson said he hopes to set up a prominent street-front sign with the Square Donuts logo, a square missing a doughnut hole and a large bite. He hopes it becomes a Bloomington fixture.