A familiar fixture along Schillinger Road in West Mobile is back to selling doughnuts and bottled water to passing motorists after a short interruption last month left his regular customers worried the business might be finished for good.
Patrick Keelan, known to thousands of regulars as the “Doughnut Man,” has spent more than seven years working the same stretch of roadway, buying boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in bulk and reselling them to drivers stuck in traffic or looking for a quick treat. The daily routine turned him into something of a local celebrity, with drivers honking, waving and rolling down windows to greet him by name.
Keelan has said the business began as a turning point in his life. After being arrested on a marijuana possession charge, he decided to leave behind the life that led to the arrest and build something of his own. He said he was turned away from several spots around Mobile before settling on his now-familiar location at Schillinger Road, where the operation grew steadily over the years and eventually expanded to include stops in Saraland and other nearby communities.
The business hit a snag last week when Keelan said he was temporarily blocked from purchasing doughnuts in bulk from the Krispy Kreme location near Hillcrest Road and Airport Boulevard, after the store learned more about how he was reselling the products. Keelan shared the setback with his followers in a video posted to his Facebook page, worrying many of his longtime customers.
The company clarified days later that the issue centered on paperwork, not a permanent decision to cut ties with the vendor. In an email sent the following Friday, a Krispy Kreme spokesperson said the pause stemmed from “a local misunderstanding about paperwork” and confirmed that Keelan would be allowed to resume sales the very next day.
“Now … it’s back to work for Doughnut Man!” the spokesperson wrote, according to the email Keelan received.
The company has not gone into detail about the specific paperwork requirement, but Keelan told customers in his Facebook video that he had been informed he would need to establish a nonprofit organization in order to continue reselling the doughnuts. Whatever the sticking point, it appears to have been resolved, allowing Keelan to return to his post on Schillinger Road that Saturday.
Keelan said the reaction from his regulars was immediate and enthusiastic once word got out that he was back. Horns honked as customers pulled up to his stand throughout the day, many telling him they had spent the prior week rooting for his return.
Despite the outpouring of support, Keelan said the disruption still cost him financially. Sales were down over the following weekend, he said, and he ended up giving away boxes of doughnuts he was unable to sell. He attributed some of the slowdown to the attention the story drew online, including a blog post about his situation and an online fundraiser started by a supporter hoping to help him buy an ice cream truck.
Keelan said he appreciated the gesture but declined the money raised through the fundraising campaign, saying he intends to save up and purchase a truck on his own timeline rather than rely on donations.
Looking ahead, Keelan said he eventually hopes to expand his offerings to include soft-serve ice cream sold from a truck alongside his doughnuts, though he is not ready to make that leap yet. For now, he said, he plans to stay put at his spot along Schillinger Road, continuing the roadside business that has become a small piece of West Mobile’s daily rhythm.