For the price of a $100 raffle ticket, some people in western Wyoming are buying a chance to start a new life waking up at 2 a.m. every day to make doughnuts.
The family that runs Daylight Donuts in Jackson wants out of the demanding business after 24 years but has been unable to find a buyer at the asking price of $190,000.So they're raffling it off.
If the family can sell 1,900 raffle tickets at $100 apiece - or $500 for half a dozen - they will hold a drawing and hand the store over to the winner. If they can't sell enough tickets, they promise to refund the money.
Aware that some doughnut lovers have plenty of experience eating the pastries but wouldn't know the first thing to do on the other side of the counter, the family is offering a training program for the lucky winner.
"Whoever wins it, we'll teach 'em," said Lori Beck, the daughter of Daylight Donuts founders Robert and Vera Arthur. She has worked the shop since the fifth grade and still eats three or four doughnuts a day.
The family opened the first Daylight Donuts in Casper in 1972. Robert Arthur got into the business after breaking his back as a construction worker. At 73, he is still the main baker.
The shop has not sold after three years on the market despite apparent assets: $50,000 worth of equipment and a loyal customer base that includes a New York man who orders doughnuts delivered by Federal Express.
The Arthurs heard about another business that was raffled off and decided to try it.
"I've done my share of getting up at 2 o'clock," Vera Arthur said.