News Photo by Mike Gonzalez A sign that says, “Coming Soon! Cops & Doughnuts,” is posted on the window of the Drug Store Health Mart Pharmacy on Thursday on U.S.-23 South. The original owners of the Substation on West Washington Avenue are retiring, so new owners are taking the Cops and Doughnuts partnership to the new location, starting March 1.

ALPENA — Owners and operators of Galley Sweet Shop, Gayle and Doug Bruski, are retiring, closing shop, and selling their partnership with Cops and Doughnuts to Mike and Kim Nunneley.

The Nunneleys are creating a new shop within the front half of the Drug Store Health Mart Pharmacy, calling it Sanctuary Sweets. The new business will open on March 1, but Galley Sweet Shop will close down on Feb. 27.

“What’s going there, really, is the Cops and Doughnuts Substation and they’ll sell to the Nunneleys instead of me,” Gayle Bruski said. “It’s been successful and it’s growing, and they’ll be open with more extended hours in the new location.”

Sanctuary Sweets will be open seven days per week, with hours, Monday through Friday, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Mike and Kim Nunneley said they’re really excited to start up the business and said that the opportunity came from pure luck.

“I literally went in for a donut and Gayle asked, ‘Do you know anybody interested in maybe buying this?'” Mike Nunneley said. “And so, we both kind of sat down and looked at some numbers. We’ve had the drugstore here for 51 years and they got some space, so we just felt that was a really neat synergy.”

Kim Nunneley said that with the larger space, Sanctuary Sweets will sell other goods such as Alpine Chocolat Haus’s treats and pies from The Parker House in Presque Isle.

The new location will not have any seating yet, but according to the Nunneleys that will come in the future, along with other features.

“So we’re talking about phase two and phase three,” Kim Nunneley said. “Phase two is a drive-up window, and then phase three would be seating. We’ll see how it goes and how it grows, but we’ll be taking it slow.”

Mike Nunneley mentioned that these phases are set within a five-year plan, meaning it’d probably take two to three years before they consider knocking down some walls and changing doors to get a drive-thru going.

He also said that seating is a big investment since it would require bathrooms for customers to use.

For now, the Nunneleys are sticking to their base plan of setting up a sweet shop, moving the Cops and Doughnuts Substation into the front of the pharmacy, and training new employees to work the store.

“I mean, Cops and Doughnuts is Michigan’s destination doughnut stop,” Mike Nunneley said. “To bring that type of business here to the south-side of Alpena, we’re really excited.”