Bennett’s Fresh Roast, the popular donut and coffee shop near downtown Fort Myers, will not be returning to its original location, if at all.  

The 1,583-square-foot building, 2011 Bayside Parkway, was put on the market two weeks ago with a $399,900 asking price. 

Real estate broker Courtney Dorsey of Banyan Realty said she has shown the building at least 25 times with it now under contract and waiting to close. She said she’s not sure of what’s next for the building, which last sold for $280,000 in 2018 when Bob Grissinger, who founded Bennett’s in 2008, bought his brother-in-law out of the real estate.  

Grissinger, now semiretired in Hagerstown, Maryland, sold the Bennett’s brand, including donut recipes, to fellow employee and donut maker Ian Black in January 2021. 

Black could not be reached for comment on the future of the Bennett’s Fresh Roast brand. If it returns, it will have to be at another location. 

“We decided to go ahead and put the building on the market,” said Grissinger, who is an adjunct professor teaching communications and broadcasting at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. “I’m 68 years old. I really don’t need to have any real estate 1,000 miles away from us. It was time to sell.”  

Grissinger spent 13 years running Bennett’s before selling the business.   

“It was a wonderful experience,” Grissinger said. “There were so many nice people. It was a difficult business to be in. The restaurant business is tough. But we did very well.”  

The COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ian, which damaged the building, both put tremendous stress on the business, Grissinger said. It has not reopened since the hurricane hit Sept. 28.