Randy's Donuts

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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox building

Randy's Donuts is a donut shop chain originated in the United States, and it is known for a colossal donut sign atop its original building located in Inglewood, California near Los Angeles International Airport, which is considered as "one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks".[1]

The original 24-hour drive-in is at 805 West Manchester Boulevard and it intersects with La Cienega Boulevard. It is near the Manchester Boulevard off-ramp of the San Diego Freeway (I-405).[2]

History

In the late 1940s, donut machine salesman Russell Wendell founded a chain of drive-in donut shops named Big Donut. The first location opened in 1951 in Westmont. The second location, which is now a Randy's Donuts, was opened in 1952.[3][4]

In 1976, after shifting focus to his Pup 'N' Taco chain (bought by Taco Bell in 1984), Wendell sold the Big Donut Inglewood location to Robert Eskow who renamed the location "Randy's Donuts" after his son. In 1978, Eskow sold the shop to Ron and Larry Weintraub, who decided to retain the name for the business.[3]

In 2015, Randy's Donuts was purchased by lawyer and entrepreneur Mark Kelegian.[5] Since that time, the brand has added franchise locations in Southern California[6], Las Vegas[7] and Phoenix;[8] as well as locations outside of the United States such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines[9], and Japan. [10][11]

Randy's Donuts opened a location at Los Angeles International Airport in 2023[12] and in the No Ho Arts District in 2024.[13]

Architecture

The original building was designed by Henry J. Goodwin. Bradshaw who worked as the civil engineer on the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport is said to have designed the giant donut on the roof according to the Los Angeles Conservancy.[1] The rooftop donut is constructed out of rolled steel bars covered with gunite.[1] Template:Citation needed span Randy's is represented by a giant donut on the roof of an otherwise ordinary a Mid-century modern drive-up food stand[1] that is a dedicated donut bakery. It is not, however, technically a Programmatic architectural building since the building itself does not look like the item it sells[1]. Still, the Los Angeles Conservancy looked "the other way" and designated Randy's Dunuts as a Programmatic architectural building since "the donut on its roof is just so large, so uncompromising, so demanding of our attention." [1]

Donut Signs

Template:Citation needed span When it opened a franchise shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, a donut sign about Template:Convert diameter was installed in front of the shop on the ground[14].

Gallery

In Popular Culture

In the 2010 film, Iron Man 2, Tony Stark while wearing the Iron Man armor, eats a box of Randy's donuts while sitting inside the large Randy's Donuts sign.[15] It apperared in other various movies such as Mars Attacks!, [16] Crocodile Dundee, Get Shorty, Earth Girls Are Easy, Dope, The Golden Child; as well as Showtime's Californication[2] and Futurama.[17][18] Randy's Donuts also apears in Justin Timberlake’s music video "Can't Stop the Feeling!."[19]

The building was shown in the Masked Rider episode "Ferbus Maximus" where an overgrown Ferbus takes the giant donut and tries to eat it. A small replica of the donut was made for the episode.

See also

References

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External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Inglewood, California

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