Liberty University alumnus purchases Uncle Joe’s Donuts

 11:30 p.m. 

While most people flick off the television and head for bed, Angelo Tillas starts his day and works alone, silent and focused, through the night. At 7 a.m. every weekday, his green apron powdered with flour and sugar, Angelo Tillas unlocks the door. At 7:01 a.m. he starts answering the phone. Uncle Joe’s Donuts and Things is open for another day of business.

Angelo Tillas bought the shop in late October after working for the original owners. He follows the previous owner’s tested recipes and said he loves his work and hopes it shows. Recently he went from donating extra donuts to selling out three days in a row.

“I keep coming back to — have we turned a corner?” Angelo Tillas said. “And we’ll find out.”

On a Saturday afternoon, his donuts gone, Angelo Tillas chatted with prospective customers. He offered sample donut holes from a bowl next to the cash register. He is grateful for regular customers returning and greets new ones with a smile. When friends offer to pray for his business, Angelo Tillas asks for 10-20 more customers each day to turn off Timberlake Road and visit his shop.

“Why not be specific?” Angelo Tillas said. “Even the most minute patron percentage — it would just transform the business.”

He closes the shop at 1 p.m., noon on Saturdays, and makes it home, exhausted, by 3 p.m. At 70 years old, Angelo Tillas said his body wants to cave in some days. His son Niko Tillas, a business student and athlete at Liberty University, runs the front counter occasionally to let his father catch up in the kitchen. Angelo Tillas worked in his father’s restaurant, and Niko appreciates the chance to do the same.

“A generation later here I am,” Niko Tillas said. “Helping out my dad.”

The name of the business will change to simply “Uncle Joe’s Donuts” within the next month. Also, Angelo Tillas plans to expand. Bags of cups and a coffee carafe on the counter wait for the coffee bar he wants to stock soon. After that he hopes to create a happy hour discount for students, open a drive-thru window and expand into gas stations and other locations. He would need a driver, and with his son in school full-time Angelo Tillas said he would consider hiring a helper if the right person came along.

In the meantime, customers can pick up a few dozen donuts for work or sit and savor in the seating area with its green walls and ruffled curtain printed with donuts and sprinkles. Christian music plays over the radio and a chalkboard reads “Hallelujah! Death has lost its grip on me.” Angelo Tillas bakes cake and yeast donuts, which have different consistencies, and filled donuts and eclairs covered with a variety of glazes and sprinkles. He gives thanks for the business’ growth.

“I just can’t say praise God enough,” Angelo Tillas said.

When he worries about selling out of donuts too early or having too many extras, his wife Monica reassures him.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Angelo Tillas quoted. “It’s only flour and sugar.”