Krispy Kreme CEO Steps Down

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, amid a turnaround effort, said CEO Daryl Brewster had resigned from his role.

News of the management change sent the company's shares climbing 11%. The doughnut-shop chain, once a Wall Street sweetie, said Brewster, 51 years old, left his position for personal reasons, but will stay with the company until the end of January. James H. Morgan, the chairman, will assume the additional posts of chief executive and president.

Krispy Kreme, which sold its first glazed doughnut in 1937, has been hurt over the past couple of years by allegations of misconduct by former management and bankruptcy filings by several of its franchisees, in addition to competition from larger rival Dunkin' Donuts. Krispy Kreme's glazed doughnuts once inspired long lines whenever the company opened a new location, but the company stumbled badly in 2004 when a push to open new stores undercut the scarcity that once drove the doughnut's desirability.