CINCINNATI, Ohio— After spending almost a year working to open a donut shop, a Cincinnati couple is now fighting to keep their doors open. 

• Peace, Love and Little Donuts opened in Hyde Park Square the first week of March
• The donut shop has had to change its hours and let go of some employees to stay afloat
• Since the shop opened so recently, it doesn't qualify for the CARES act

It’s a difficult time as it is for small businesses. But imagine opening your restaurant just ten days before the governor’s stay at home order. That’s what happened with Peace, Love and Little Donuts  in Hyde Park in Cincinnati and they’re just trying to make sure that they survive.

Donuts almost always seem to put a smile on someone’s face and that’s one reason why the customers continue to come in to the brand new Peace, Love and Little Donuts in Hyde Park. Kyle Robinson and his wife Susan already loved the company’s donuts, so they decided to bring one to southwest Ohio.

“Cincinnati doesn’t have anything like this," Kyle said. "Maybe we should bring it down here and maybe it’ll do well.”

After over a year in the making, the perfect storefront had been chosen and was ready to open for business. The shop didn’t even advertise a grand opening and still had people waiting around the block to get in.

“The first week was amazing," Kyle said. "Hyde Park definitely welcomed us with open arms. The school, the teachers, all the kids it was amazing in here. And I thought that was going to continue.”

But that was the first week of March. Now things are a little different for the store. Since it’s so new, it doesn’t qualify for assistance under the CARES act, the coronavirus emergency relief package. So they’ve had to cut back hours and employees to stay afloat.

“With everything going on, there’s no point to open at 6 AM anymore," Kyle said.

But for the Robinson’s, they’ve been able to keep their doors open thanks to many people in the community wanting to support a brand new small business in town.

“I can’t imagine trying to open a new business and have all this go on and try to survive," Samantha Roberts a customer said. "We’re so busy that we don’t always want to cook so if we can support a local business, I want to.”

The donut shop also makes sure to give back to their new community, donating unused donuts at the end of the day to fire and police departments as well as hospitals.

“There’s no point in throwing anything away," Kyle said. "You’re going to do something good with it, make someone happy, out a smile on someone’s face.”

The owners say they’re optimistic that once this is all over that they’ll be back to a busy little donut shop.