"This is another step in the turnaround of Krispy Kreme," company president and CEO Daryl Brewster declared in a statement issued Monday. Brewster explained that Krispy Kreme was unable to file the franchise offering circular previously because the company had fallen behind in completing its financial statements. Now, however, "Krispy Kreme is able to file this document because it has become current with its audited financial statements," Brewster said.

A uniform franchise offering circular is a disclosure document that contains detailed information about a franchise offering. It is designed to assist potential franchisees in evaluating a franchise opportunity, part of a franchising disclosure and sales process that is regulated by the FTC and certain states.

For 70-year-old Krispy Kreme, the filing suggests that the company can begin to expand again, assuming other conditions are conducive to expansion. The company operates approximately 395 Krispy Kreme stores, 296 of them so-called factory stores and 99 satellites in 41 US states, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, the Philippines, the Republic of South Korea and the United Kingdom. Factory stores, which contain a doughnut-making production line, typically support on-premises sales as well as sales to convenience stores, grocery stores, mass merchants and other food service and institutional accounts. Satellite stores consist primarily of the company's other shop and kiosk formats.