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Glazed and Infused Opening in River North, Scouting Lakeview, Andersonville

By Paul Biasco | June 12, 2013 2:15pm | Updated on June 13, 2013 7:03pm
 Glazed and Infused Doughnuts is planning on opening a River North location in July and is scouting Lakeview and Andersonville for a sixth location.
Glazed and Infused Summer Doughnuts
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RIVER NORTH — Glazed and Infused, which has quickly expanded its doughnut shop empire over the last 14 months, is set to open a River North location in July and is scouting the North Side for a sixth.

The doughnut shop, which opened its first store in Wicker Park in April 2012, will open a location inside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel at Hubbard and State streets on July 15.

While part of the Glazed and Infused team preps to open the River North location, research is underway in Lakeview and Andersonville. The company hasn't decided which of these neighborhoods would get the the sixth location.

The doughnut specialists, who gained recognition through their long john with a slab of bacon across the top, plan on offering a more "coffee shop-style" approach with their new locations, according to general manager James Gray.

With that new focus, the company also will be making the switch from Intelligentsia Coffee to Bow Truss. And to celebrate the partnership, Bow Truss, 2934 N. Broadway Ave., will be giving away free Glazed and Infused doughnuts Friday, the company said. In turn, the pastry shop will be handing out free cups of joe at its locations.

"We are in a really lucky time right now where coffee has become trendy again," Gray said. "It's something that people want done really well and Chicago right now is sort of a hot scene, a hot hub for a lot of boutique roasters."

Gray said the decision to get more serious about coffee will help diversify their business across the city.

The stores, which now only have drip coffee on tap, will eventually offer pour-over coffee and espresso machines.

With the move to Bow Truss, Glazed and Infused will also get its own signature coffee roast.

"This kind of relationship will show our customers that we not only take our doughnuts seriously but are also serious about coffee," Gray said.

The company's decision to drop Intelligentsia was meant to keep with the philosophy of staying local and independent.

Intelligentsia recently expanded its operations to Los Angeles and New York, while Bow Truss has just two retail locations, both in Chicago.

"They were once a small Chicago company that grew to a position in their market, but we felt that given our place being so small and growing, we wanted a partnership with someone who is also growing," Gray said.

Besides the Wicker Park location, Glazed and Infused has locations in Lincoln Park, Streeterville and the West Loop.