Bendigo Marketplace welcomes first regional Walker's Doughnuts store

Walker's Doughnuts will open at the Bendigo Marketplace by the end of the week with grand plans for hospitality training facilities to grow along with the store.

Adam Parsons has returned to central Victoria to open the shop with partner Zulma Fohrigen after working with the franchise for the past two years.

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"Walker's started around 2004 by Rose and Jim (Walker) in the city and has become an icon of Melbourne with the store on the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth streets," Mr Parsons said.

"They started to franchise with the help of their staff. I'm in the same boat; I was the operations manager for two years and I wanted to start my own store.

"I saw an opportunity in Bendigo and I thought how amazing to be a part of the regional flagship store.

"I lived in Castlemaine for a number of years and my kids live there so I have local roots and this is home."

Mr Parsons and Ms Fohrigen have pulled the Bendigo shop front together over the past three months and have used the coronavirus pandemic to their favour by reaching out to employment agencies and looking into training opportunities to boost career outcomes.

"We'll be hiring local "doughnuteers" and our current staff members are excited by the opportunities," he said.

"This is the first big opportunity to train people in back and front-of-house role.

"I've worked with JobActive and local employment centres to find out staff. I want to get people who are out of work into a job and give them the right start in a career. I come from a training background and I want to give people the same opportunities that I've had.

"Down the track there will be a Walker's University right here in Bendigo with the potential for all franchises to come here for a week and learn the trade."

The shop is expected to open by the end of the week and Mr Parsons is excited to bring an array of new doughnuts with nostalgic flavours to central Victoria.

"We'll be making fresh doughnuts in the shop every single morning," he said.

"The brand is all about quality and integrity. It reflects that wonderful post World War II era where people drank milkshakes after the movies and got around on roller-skates without a care in the world.

"It's an amazing venture to do with the company. Tomorrow something else will happen as the brand is always evolving, changing and making better doughnuts."

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