How Taylor Swift doughnuts went from 'fun joke' to 'wild, crazy' weekend for Rochester store

In three days, so many Swifties came through that now everyone is just trying to get some rest.

Donuts Delite, a family-owned doughnut store in Rochester, N.Y., ran a three-day promotion during the weekend on Taylor Swift and Buffalo Bills-themed doughnuts, anticipating the pop icon's expected visit to nearby Highmark Stadium for the divisional round playoff game between the Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

The promotion generated so much demand that Donuts Delite owner Nick Semeraro brought in more than 30 extra workers and had to alter the store's hours, keeping it open 24 hours for three consecutive days. And even then, that wasn't enough; Semeraro said friends and family, including his wife, Holly, and three children Noah, Cole and Reed came in to help.

"It was a matter of everybody pitching in, all hands on deck," Semeraro told USA TODAY Sports on Monday morning in a phone conversation. "It was wild, crazy. What a ride. What I can tell you is we're all tired today. It stirred a lot of emotions on both sides, but we take pride in what we do and we're thankful for all the interest. What a blessing."

Semeraro gave many of the workers who pulled extra shifts the day off Monday and was back in his office to take stock of everything. He said there was still no official count on the amount of Swift doughnuts sold and couldn't offer a rough estimate due to the sheer volume and to the work that it would take to count inventory.

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"I can tell you this place was packed," he said. "There were people everywhere. It just kind of blew up."

As of Saturday, at least 2,000 Swift-themed pastries had sold, including around 500 between 6 and 9 a.m. Friday.

Semeraro said it started "kind of as a fun joke," as the region prepared for the Bills game. Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was expected to be in attendance at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. to support Kelce and the Chiefs, as she has done when her schedule has allowed. Donuts Delite did some quick research about Swift's favorite color and flavor, and came up with the pastry, which was piped with Tiffany blue icing and filled with strawberry cream. In the center was a wafer-thin edible paper with Swift's image printed on it.

A doughnut platter with Bills- and Chiefs-branded doughnuts encircling an oversized cinnamon-flavored flying saucer doughnut with Swift’s image sold for $45 and individual "Swiftie" doughnuts sold for $4.

Swift did attend the game, an eventual 27-24 Bills loss.

The promotion ran from Friday through Sunday at both Donut Delites locations in Rochester, though the offer at the company's flagship location was limited to pickup only, to mitigate foot traffic concerns.

The company has run similar pop-culture promotions in the past. During the summer, Donuts Delite sold Barbie doughnuts with homemade bubble gum-flavored cream to coincide with the Barbie movie's release. It also has done a Betty White doughnut and even one celebrating longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Some people really loved it and some people didn’t like it at all," Semeraro said of the Swift doughnuts. "But that’s kind of what we do – we start the conversation. We even left all the negative posts up on our social media pages because we wanted to make sure those people had their voice, too. But at the end of the day, we feel that it’s just a doughnut, and everybody should enjoy them and relax.

"The best story I can tell you is that I came in on Saturday and was getting ready to fix up some Garbage Plates, and I was met with a line of dads who had heard about the promotion and wanted to connect with their daughters and surprise them with some Taylor Swift doughnuts. That's why we do this. That's what it's all about."

Contributing: Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle