Cape Cod’s Original Ma’s Donut Legacy Comes Full Circle

For a business built on tradition, family recipes and generations of loyal customers, this latest expansion for GrandMa’s Donuts and Coffee Shop feels less like opening a new chapter and more like finishing a story that began nearly 70 years ago.

The beloved New Bedford donut shop announced that its famous donuts are now available at Uncle Jon's Coffee's newest location in Buzzards Bay at 93 Main Street. The partnership is especially meaningful because it brings GrandMa’s products back to the very community where it all started.

“GrandMa’s is now carrying donuts at Uncle Jon’s new location in Buzzards Bay!” the shop shared. “If you guys know, this is where ‘Ma’s Donuts’ originally started. Go support this weekend. Donuts will be arriving Friday (June 12th)!"

A Sweet History That Began in Buzzards Bay

Long before it became the GrandMa's Donuts that SouthCoast residents know today, the shop was simply called Ma’s Donuts. Florence (or "Bertha," as some knew her by) “Ma” Gendron, along with her son Ronald Gendron, built the original location on Main Street in Buzzards Bay in 1955, opening its doors to customers in 1956. The shop remained a Cape Cod favorite until 1983 or 1984, when the family made the move to New Bedford. That relocation would mark the beginning of a new era, but with the same recipes.

GrandMa's Donuts

Over the decades, ownership of the iconic donut shop has been passed down through five generations. Norman Gendron and Ma helped establish the New Bedford location, followed by Eddie Lemieux, then Scott Lemieux, and today, the family tradition continues under the leadership of Hannah Lemieux.

A 30-Year Friendship Comes Full Circle

For Hannah, partnering with Uncle Jon’s isn’t just another wholesale account. It’s a relationship that stretches back decades and one that has become part of the GrandMa’s family story. “They’ve been with us for 30 years,” Lemieux said. “It goes back 30 years. When we reopened back in 2021, they came back to work with us again as if we never left.”

Some of her earliest memories involve those early-morning pickups before the sun came up. “I remember as a kid, they would pick up their orders at 5 a.m. at the donut shop in New Bedford with their kids in the backseat,” she said. “Those kids are now in their late 30s.” Today, Uncle Jon’s has locations in Mattapoisett, Marion and now Buzzards Bay, where customers can once again grab GrandMa’s donuts and baked treats in the area where the family business was born.

Back Where It All Began

There’s one small piece of the story that remains a mystery. The Lemieux family isn’t completely certain whether the original Ma’s Donuts occupied the exact building that now houses the new Uncle Jon’s location or if it stood directly across the street. What they do know is that it was right there, in that same stretch of Buzzards Bay, where generations of customers first discovered the donuts that would eventually become a SouthCoast institution.

READ MORE: GrandMa's Donuts & Mirasol's Cafe Unite

After nearly seven decades, five generations and one memorable move to New Bedford, GrandMa’s Donuts has found its way home again, and for longtime fans who remember Ma’s Donuts (before all the donut drama erupted with a Middletown, Rhode Island business), there’s something pretty special about seeing those familiar treats return to the place where it all began.