DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — A popular donut shop in Danville has reopened after it sat closed for a year.

As of Tuesday, Royal Donut is back in business and the shop’s reopening was marked with lines of people waiting in anticipation for a donut.

Since its opening in 1973, the donut shop had become a staple in Danville before closing. That’s when Sam George and his siblings put in the hard work to bring it back. George said the opening was bigger than he expected.

“We knew it was going to be busy, but it was crazier than we could have imagined,” George said.

Not only did people wait for hours, but they drove from far away.

“I drove for about 45 minutes,” said customer Cory Little. “The reason I come up here is because there donuts are awesome.”

Little said he used to make the drive from Terra Haute at least once a month. He said the donuts are worth it and he couldn’t miss the opportunity to get one from the new owners.

“You know, we got square donuts but nothing beats a royal donut,” Little said.

Ethan Fowler said he is excited to get back to eating the tasty treat.

“I was really sad when they closed, but now that they’ve reopened, I can start eating donuts again,” Fowler said.

George said that even if people didn’t have a chance to get their favorite pastry, they plan on sticking around.

“For the people who might be disappointed because the line is an hour long right now, or because we’re out of a bunch of stuff, we’ll be here next week, we’ll be here the week after, we’ll be here next month,” George said. “We’ll make sure we get all your favorites to you.”

The shop was so busy on opening day that they had to close at 9 a.m. and restock for the afternoon, only to sell out again. The owners said they’ll be ready for Wednesday.