CHAMPAIGN — Several years ago, James Kyung set his mind to a culinary task for a very simple reason: He had a sweet tooth.
“We had zero intention of starting a business,” he said. “It was just merely out of, primarily, me being obsessed with donuts and wanting to learn how to make them just so I could eat donuts at home. That was really the only reason I started making donuts.”
In time, however, that household hobby did turn into a business — a business now set to shut its doors in a few weeks.
Pandamonium Doughnuts announced its upcoming closure on social media. While their last day of business has yet to be determined, Kyung and his wife, Marci, estimated that they will close sometime around the end of June or early July.
The couple have made this decision in order to spend time with their children. One is four-and-a-half years old, while the other is five months old.
“Trying to do the Pandamonium stuff and grow the business takes time away from being at home,” Kyung said.
The business started small, with the couple initially selling donuts at Urbana’s Market on the Square in 2013. Kyung named the endeavor after his nickname of “Panda.”
Then, with help from a crowdfunding campaign, they opened a Pandamonium Doughnuts food truck in late 2014. A brick-and-mortar location at 1105 Windsor Road followed three years later.
The business is one of several donut shops to pop up in the Champaign-Urbana area. Others include Industrial Donut, Ye Olde Donut Shoppe, six Dunkin’ locations and a Parlor Doughnuts that opened at the Old Farm Shops in late 2024.
Pandamonium’s shop and the food truck are both set to close. Kyung added that he and his wife do not plan to sell the business.
“We don’t want to sell the trademark or the recipes or anything like that,” he said. “Because, in a sense, I think we always viewed the business as our first child.”
There’s also the slight chance that they might one day start Pandamonium up again, though he admitted that this probably won’t happen.
“Even if we wanted to, it wouldn’t be for a while,” he said.
Kyung added that Pandamonium wouldn’t exist without the community’s constant support, and it’s been “very surreal” to see how many people have reached out since their announcement.
All in all, it’s a bittersweet time, he said.
“It was very hard to come to that decision, because Pandamonium is us, and saying goodbye to it feels like it’s saying goodbye to a big part of who we are,” Kyung said.
“But at the same time … we’re excited at the prospect of being able to be home more with our kids and our family. And honestly, having free time. As a small business owner, having free time is a rarity. And one of the things we joked about is we haven’t had a weekend free in 12 years plus.”
