Vincent Van Doughnut in the Grove is under new ownership

Former employee Mike McKinlay is the doughnut shop’s new owner

Vincent Van Doughnut founder Vincent Marsden has sold the business at 1072 Tower Grove Ave. to longtime employee Mike McKinlay.

“I harassed Vincent for six years just to get a part-time job, so this opportunity left me so excited I was almost speechless,” McKinlay said in a release. 

The business began in 2014 when Marsden launched it out of his vintage 1960 food truck. Later that year, he competed on the Cooking Channel’s Donut Showdown. He won the second season premiere and $10,000 in prize money, which he used to open his first brick-and-mortar in Clayton in 2015. That location closed in 2020 when the entire block on North Central Avenue was demolished to make way for new development in the area. The current location opened in 2017. 

McKinlay intends to keep the business running as usual, making doughnuts from scratch and sourcing ingredients locally when possible.

“Ever since I first met Mike, he has shared the same passion that I’ve always had for a love of doughnuts and providing customers with a one-of-a-kind scratch-made product,” Marsden said in the release. “In fact, when I first met him, he told me that I had his dream job. So, when the time came, it only made sense that the torch be passed to him.” 

Marsden told Sauce that he plans to take a step back from the culinary industry after 32 years of working in restaurants. He currently renovates houses with his wife and plans to move into that full-time.

Vincent Van Doughnut is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, but will close early if all product is sold out ahead of 2 p.m.