Sales of donutella doughnuts through the roof at Thomastown corner store
JUST what luscious treat has people driving from all over the state to this little store in Melbourne’s north?
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THEY’RE luscious and sweet and have people queuing up for a taste of their chocolatey goodness.
People are flocking from everywhere to try the Nutella-filled doughnuts, known as a donutella, at Mick’s Place in Thomastown.
Mick Samia and his wife Basima had a simple corner store, but the $3 donutella has made them an online viral sensation.
They started by selling two doughnuts, made at a bakery in Reservoir, alongside muffins and cakes in their convenience store.
Now they shift more than 4000 units a day.
“I used to get two (doughnuts) and then a customer wanted some for his friends so I ordered four, then I got a dozen and they sold out,” Mr Samia said.
Within a week Mr Samia, who is a diabetic and sneaks in a doughnut every now and then, had customers coming in daily asking for a donutella.
“By 9am, 30 customers had come in and I only had 130 doughnuts, I’d sold out,” he said. “I was lost for words. Customers were coming from everywhere.”
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On Sunday last week he sold 4300 doughnuts.
“If I had another 1000 I would have sold them,” he said.
Ms Samia said the phone doesn’t stop.
The biggest order they’ve had so far was for 120 for a birthday party.
“We get a lot of orders over the phone from everywhere, Seymour, Knox, Rowville, Port Fairy, Point Cook, Richmond, Doncaster, Dandenong,” she said.
A customer travelled all the way from Seymour only to find the doughnuts had been sold out.
“She got upset and walked out,” Mr Samia said.
“Her husband came in and said, ‘Mate she a Nutella addict’, so I said come back Monday morning and I’ll give you a six-pack on the house, and she did.”
Ms Samia said people used to go to Lygon St for gelati and now they’re going to Thomastown for doughnuts.
“We’ve put Victoria Drive on the map,” she said.
Sports stars, celebrities and models are indulging and Mr Samia is finding it hard to comprehend his new fame.
“Vince Mantovani the body builder came in, on his cheat day,” he said.
He’s also been sent a photo of someone who had travelled from Hong Kong and made the trip to Thomastown for a donutella.
The store now stocks peanut butter and jam doughnuts and Nutella and jam doughnuts.
“There’s a customer and his crew of friends from Doncaster who has asked for peanut butter on the inside and Nutella on the outside,” Mr Samia said.
“Nearly every shop in Victoria has doughnuts but they’re coming here.
“It’s surreal.”
Mick’s Place is at 91 Victoria Drive, Thomastown.