Winchell’s won’t be reopening by the end of this year like the owner hoped, but he’s still planning to open the popular Longmont donut shop as soon as possible.
Owner Joe Barmada said navigating red tape took longer than expected with required paperwork delaying his ability to apply for the necessary permits. He said he was finally able to submit the permits last Monday and hoped to get the paperwork back this week.
“Whenever we get the permits, we need like two months to finish everything,” Barmada said.
Winchell’s closed in December of 2021 after a car hit the building. The structure housing the donut shop was built in 1964, so additional work was needed to bring it up to code and the related paperwork and contracting took longer than expected.
Barmada joked that he had gotten used to staying at home, but was glad to be a little bit closer to opening back up the beloved donut shop — even if it means he’ll be eating a few more donuts himself.
“Yeah, I lost a lot of weight because of that,” he laughed. “We’re excited, actually.”
