Donutology Rolling Into River Market 1940s Streetcar

By Kevin Collison

Donutolgy is rolling into the River Market, replacing the Made in KC outlet inside a historic Kansas City streetcar permanently parked at Fifth and Main.

“That location was appealing to us,” said Andrew Cameron, Donutology founder. “When we first opened in Westport (2016), we were attracted by the uniqueness and history behind the space.

“We don’t like going into cookie-cutter space. We thought it was cool being in a streetcar from the 1940s on the current streetcar line. It fit with our brand.”

The second Donutology outlet in the city is expected to open this month and serve the same menu of unique donuts and mini-donuts as well as donut-inspired cocktails as the original at 1009 Westport Rd.

Westport-based Donutology is opening its second outlet in the River Market.

Made in KC opened a small cafe and shop selling products by local makers inside the old streetcar in October 2020. While it proved popular, owner Tyler Enders said it didn’t prove to be large enough to do all Made in KC wanted for the business.

“It has been a labor of love and an amazing, unique opportunity for us,” Enders said.

“We think it’s a tremendous asset to the neighborhood and we worked with the landlord to try to figure out who could do better for the customer-type coming in for coffee or a sandwich.”

Enders praised Craig Slawson, the Denver developer who brought the old streetcar to the location, for his original concept.

“It was his creative vision to make something of that trolley,” he said. “It was an exciting kind of project that attracted us to turn a 60 year-old streetcar into a cafe.”

Cameron said Donutology will fry the majority of its donuts fresh on site and plans to have extensive hours during fair weather months. The streetcar includes an outdoor patio deck for customers.

The old Country Club streetcar now in the River Market was once on display at Union Station before being relocated. (Photo by Neil Angrisano)

While the hours haven’t been finalized, he intends to open at 7 a.m. and stay open to 11 p.m. on weekends. Weekdays the hours will run until late afternoon or early evening. Winter hours will likely be more limited.

“It will be a full Donutology with out signature mini and classic donuts, and we’ll have our signature cocktails which are an array of donut-inspired drinks.”

Cameron said he wanted to open his own place after managing a chain of Daylight Donut shops in the city.

“I decided it would be cool to create a store that would be open all day with hot, fresh donuts that offered signature mini-donuts with special toppings so you can try different ones,” he said.