A GIANT doughnut box was opened up at Swindon Designer Outlet as Krispy Kreme unveiled the first retail design of its type in the world.

The doughnut giant has had cabinets at the Tesco stores in town, but opened up its first standalone store inside the shopping centre yesterday morning.

The design is known as a Super Box Store, with the appearance of a giant, traditional Krispy Kreme box opened up, with staff and products inside.

It is the first of its kind being rolled out by the firm anywhere in the world, but unlikely to be the last, with plans afoot for more in the UK and US ahead.

“This concept is being rolled out in the UK. We have got about 11 planned for the near future,” said Damien Austin, UK retail sales manager.

“The Super Box Store is something which is special because everything is for sale in one place. It is obviously something the US is really keen to take on too.

“We are always looking out for stores across the UK and this concept is one which will certainly be used elsewhere.

“The landlords here certainly love this concept.”

There are hopes this compact design will allow the company to target events, festivals and shopping centres in the future.

The outlet was opened up next to the Giraffe restaurant at 10am, with around a dozen customers waiting to get their hands on their own dozen.

First in line was Sarah Wilmott, a 37-year-old customer advise from Shaw, who only started queuing at 9.50am to get her first spot in line.

“People seemed to be waiting around generally, but I think they were too embarrassed to formally queue,” she said.

“I just rolled up and went straight up to the counter. Then I found out I had won this gold card.”

As the store’s first-ever customer, Sarah was given a Krispy Kreme Gold Card, which entitles her to two dozen doughnuts every month for the next year.

“I had read it was opening online and my children urged me to get here early with the chance of getting something free,” she said.

“There had been a few bits on Twitter suggesting there would be prizes, but we just had to wait and see.

“They’re going to be over the moon. I will get in and tell them all about what happened, but they’ll just be asking me where the doughnuts are.”

Operations manager Alex Pitts was at the shopping centre for the opening despite a hospital appointment to remove the cast on his fractured right wrist.

He said eight staff had been hired from an initial pool of 150, with those taken on undertaking training at the Bath store in the past few weeks.

Krispy Kreme is open from 10am until 8pm during the week, 9am until 7pm on Saturdays and 10am until 6pm on Sundays.