An Egyptian company, Vision Brands, has signed a deal to open 25 Dixie Cream shops during the next 15 years in and around Cairo, the country's capital.
"The first one should open in the spring in Cairo," said David Rutkauskas, the president and CEO of Beautiful Brands International of Tulsa, which is franchising Dixie Cream Donut Co.
A team of Tulsans that has been trying to revamp the Dixie Cream name since 2005 opened the company's first store in more than a decade last year in Jenks.
Vision Brands' co-owner Magdi Rizk said in a statement, "Doughnuts in the Egyptian market are fairly new, so we knew we'd be able to introduce the product effectively and find a niche for it in a vastly untapped segment."
The deal should create about 400 jobs in Egypt and help introduce the baked good to the country.
Dixie Cream Donut Co., which got its start in Dallas, came to Tulsa in the 1940s, but the brand fell out of favor during the following decades.
Daylight Donut Flour Co. of Tulsa bought the brand and its recipe in 2005 and teamed up with Beautiful Brands to franchise Dixie Cream.
Rutkauskas said Dixie Cream is known for its light, flaky doughnuts. The stores also sell coffee and sandwiches.
He said the Egypt deal was a major coup for the brand because it gives it its first franchisee and a Mediterranean and international presence.
"Once the first franchisee signs on, it adds credibility for everyone else who was looking at the brand," he said.
The stores are expected to be about 1,000 square feet each.
Although several potential deals are in the works regionally and nationally, Rutkauskas said, the company does not plan at present to open a second Dixie Cream store in the Tulsa area.
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