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Keith Took is Greater North County Chamber Business Person of 2010
Keith Took (center) in his Old Town Donuts shop. Seated from left are, his father, Gus Took, and loyal customers, Will Geno, Paul Carr, Clarence Raup, and Daniel Carr. Veterans from World War Ii and Korea sit an swap tales sometimes for hours at the shop. Jane Banaszek photo
Took’s Old Town Donut is A Florissant Institution
The Greater North County Chamber of Commerce on Friday will honor the local Old Town businessman often called “the Donut Man.”
Keith Took, who took over his family’s donut business and turned it into a Florissant institution, will be honored 2010 Businessperson of the Year by the Commerce. Took will be honored for his efforts at the chamber’s annual awards dinner on April 9 at Yacovelli’s.
Old Town Donuts was started in 1968 by Took’s sister Claudia and her husband, Steve Burns, at a location in Florissant on Lindbergh Blvd. Three years later the couple moved their store to Berkeley before relocating to its present location on New Florissant Road in 1980. When his brother-in-law desired to change careers in 1996, Took bought the business.
“Prior to that I worked as a sales representative for SelectDrink, a Coca-Cola distributor in North County,” says Took, whose staff now includes approximately 30 employees who range in age from 15 to 92. “Steve wanted to go into teaching and became a Ph.D. in exercise physiology. He decided to retire from the family business and I said, ‘That sounds like something I’d be interested in.’ I took over in July 1996” and began getting up at 3:30 in the morning to head to shop and start the donut making process.
Even in a recession, people still enjoy donuts, according to Took. “Business has been exactly the same through the years,” he says. “We cater to schools, churches, seniors, kids. The donut business hasn’t changed.” Additionally, Old Town Donuts is a frequent and generous contributor of pastries to myriad charitable organizations and events.
Took has maintained a faithful clientele despite the arrival of big-time competitors. “When Krispy Kreme came to town, everybody tried them,” he says. “But eventually our customers all came back. We’re kind of like a landmark. People come from everywhere, they come back here from St. Charles, O’Fallon and all around.”
Last year, in fact, KSDK, Channel 5 asked viewers the place they would most like to visit one more time if they were moving from St. Louis, and then did a feature on the top-ranked places, including Old Town Donuts.
Additionally, says Took, “We were voted #1 donut shop in metropolitan St. Louis in 2009 by WIL-FM on the ‘Cornbread Show.’ We went up against 12 other shops and came in first with a panel of cab drivers and police officers.” Took adds with a laugh, “Nobody knows donuts better than them.”
Took, 55, is a graduate of McCluer High School. He is a member of the chamber’s Board of Directors belongs to the Rotary Club of Florissant and is a former treasurer of the Florissant Ambassadors.
A member of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Florissant, he is married to attorney JoAnn Donovan, who happens to have been the 2008 Florissant Valley Chamber of Commerce Businessperson of the Year. They have four children, three sons and one daughter (two each from their first marriages), all of whom have worked at Old Town Donuts. ( Information from this story provided by Mark Bretz of the chamber’s board of directors)
