Krispy Kreme stores in the Pacific Northwest sold 229 percent more cups of coffee last week than they did the week before they launched a Depression-inspired promotion last fall.

Dropping prices from $1.45 to a nickel (small/12 oz.), $1.65 to a dime (medium/16 oz.) and $1.75 to 15 cents (large/20 oz.) has brought in more customers, and Krispy Kreme says they're buying doughnuts (99 cents for an original glazed), too.

"It's our way of giving people something to feel good about at a time when people need something to feel good about," said Gerard Centioli, CEO of Icon LLC in Seattle, which co-owns (with Krispy Kreme) 12 stores in the Northwest and Hawaii. There are two in Seattle and one in Issaquah.

The "new deals" -- which began with the nickel coffee last October and expanded to include 15 cents for a large drip coffee earlier this month -- were inspired by Krispy Kreme's Depression roots. When the company started in 1937, it charged a nickel for a cup of coffee.

Centioli says they'll keep the coffee bargains going "for as long as we can afford to do it."

"We don't make money on this coffee at these prices, but people come in and also buy doughtnuts," he said.

Unlike Dunkin' Donuts, he said, Krispy Kreme does not rely on its coffee for much income. "The lion's share of our sales is doughnuts. Our typical customer buys a dozen doughnuts or more."

Krispy Kreme is a publicly traded company based in North Carolina, where it also roasts the coffee. A slew of its U.S. stores closed a few years ago after the company grew too fast and got into legal trouble, which led to a $783,000 SEC fine for three former executives this month.

PHOTO: KRISPY KREME

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