Maggie's Doughnuts in Hiram, Ohio, is the newest of four shops owned by Bill Poole. The Hiram shop has been around for about two years. Poole is the third owner of the business. Poole worked for his little league coach Ryan Maylor, the second owner of the shop, when he was young. The original owner, Stan Pierce, named the shop after his wife, Maggie. When Poole was 23 years old, Maylor sold the shop to Poole who chose to keep the name of the shop.
From there, Bill Poole dove into politics. He was mayor of Middlefield, Ohio, for twelve years. During which time, he made a strong working relationship with Hiram's police chief. When he decided to leave politics, Poole focused on his doughnut business. It was then that he opened another shop in Middlefield - five miles from the original location. After that, he opened another Maggie's in Madison.
The police chief of Hiram contacted Poole and explained that there was a building available in an attractive location - right next to Hiram College and very near an intersection of two state routes. He expressed Hiram's need for the doughnut store, as there are very few businesses in Hiram, let alone places to purchase food. To top it off, Poole knew that many people from Garrettsville drove to Maggie's in Middlefield to taste their unique recipe and several people had requested that Poole open a shop closer to them. Hiram is only four miles from Garrettsville.
The unique thing about the Maggie's in Hiram is that it serves a small lunch menu to cater to the needs of the college community. There are no grocery stores located directly in Hiram, so the shop decided to carry a small amount of convenience items, too.
In addition to having fabulous (Shelby approved) lunch combos, Hiram's shop has a drive through. The price of a large 24 ounce coffee is $2.00. The coffee maker the facility uses grinds beans right before your eyes - you can taste the freshness. That low price and high quality are found few places, let alone in a small, mostly rural, community.
Monday through Friday Hiram's Maggie's location opens at 5:00 a.m., for which I am grateful due to my packed work schedule this summer. On Saturdays, they open at 6:00 a.m. and on Sundays, they open at 7:00 a.m.
Maggie's also offers a punch-card-style reward program. Buy nine cups of coffee and the tenth is free. Buy nine dozen doughnuts and the tenth dozen is free. (I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't actually start using a punch card until I spoke with the people in Hiram's shop in order to write this article. I could have had at least four free coffees by now.)
On top of all of those good things, the dining area (with free wifi) provided by the shop is quaint and aesthetically appealing. Maggie's is welcoming, comfortable, and situated in the perfect place to be walking distance for many Hiram residents and Hiram College students, faculty, and staff.
Outside dining area:
Inside dinging area:
The worker's at Maggie's in Hiram are pretty great, too. I would like to give a big thanks to Billy Poole, the owner's son, and employee, Cinda, for talking to me and giving me all of the information I have discussed so far. I suspect the employees at the other locations are just as great though, considering Cinda has four sisters that work in the Middlefield shops. It's not always the case by any means, but I like to think cheery kindness runs in families. I was glad to hear that one or two of the before-mentioned-sisters will likely be the next owners. The communities they serve could not ask for better people to take care of their pastry needs.
Now, on to the important part: the doughnuts.
The original shop in Middlefield makes all of the doughnuts that supply the four stores. Their timeless slogan, "bake fresh daily," couldn't be more true — they bake fresh all day. There are four bakers that keep the kitchen running nearly twenty-four-seven to keep the shops supplied — and even then, some locations still run out of doughnuts well before closing time. The four delivery drivers make "emergency" delivers on occasion to keep the shop stocked. Maggie's is still using the recipe made by the first owner — the real Maggie herself — for both the doughnut dough and the cream filling.
I give this place four out of five stars. They're only missing a star because though they buy milk from a local farm (Hasting Dairy in Chardon) to sell in the Hiram shop, they do not buy locally raised pork for their Hiram-featured-only pulled pork sandwiches. (Dig deeper into the community, Poole family. And you'll get my fifth star.)
There are also rumors floating around that Maggie's may franchise. I'm not sure I'm a fan of that idea because I generally support small businesses that are better able to connect with their communities. But if Maggie's can maintain their high quality products and friendly service, maybe their influence in this capitalist world will challenge others to step up their game.
