Quiet Giants: Glazed Over sweetens the Powell scene with donuts, pastries, coffee

POWELL — Your eyes might glaze over during a long meeting, or after 3 p.m. on a Friday, but not when you see a bakery display full of donuts, cupcakes and every treat in between.

Jeff Steen named his Powell and Upper Sandusky donut shops ‘Glazed Over’ as a nod to the donut’s glaze, not the feeling of never-ending boredom.

Glazed Over, located at 240 N. Liberty St., is open Thursday-Sunday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Inside is a sugar addict’s paradise: cases full of over 30 types of donuts, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cookies, cupcakes and more.

Customers will also find a wide selection of beverages from coffee to tea to specialty-flavored milks, perfect for washing down a fresh donut.

Steen entered the baked-goods world in 2019 when he one day saw his local donut shop in Upper Sandusky had a “for sale” sign out front.

“I was 59, and I was like ‘Well, what are you going to do?’ That might be a good retirement thing, and I’d never been in small business,” Steen said.

So he bought the shop, quit his job at Nationwide Insurance, hired some of the previous shop workers and got to work learning the ins and outs of running a small business.

His son’s girlfriend designed the donut logo and pitched the name Glazed Over, and the name stuck.

As a corporate worker his whole life, running a donut shop was completely foreign to Steen, but he made it work, even through the COVID-19 pandemic in a small Ohio town.

Why Powell for a donut parlor?

Last year, after Steen decided it was time to expand somewhere a little closer to home, he found Glazed Over’s home right around the corner from downtown Powell.

“So, the marriage between Upper Sandusky and Powell is, I grew up there, and I worked in Metro Columbus for 40 years. We lived north of Liberty High School for 20 years, raised the kids who went to Liberty,” Steen said.

He spent months last year renovating the space and getting the equipment necessary before opening in February of this year.

“I got creamed the first couple weeks. We’re something new, and people came in, lined up outside at 5:30 a.m. to get in here,” Steen said.

“Everybody who comes in is happy about our stuff, which is a good feeling.”

Steen said he’s started to get regulars who come in every day or week, several of which are local kids who ride their bikes to his shop.

“There’s this one little boy, he comes in on his bike, and he usually has a $20 bill and he knows exactly what he wants,” Steen said.

Steen said business has slowed since the newness wore off, he thinks in part because people think he only sells donuts.

“We do all kinds of cakes, we’ve got Crimson Cup coffee, pastries, you name it,” he said.

He’s tried to promote those other sweets by providing iced cookies to a nearby Chick-fil-A for an event, and selling cookies at his neighbor’s restaurant, Brooklyn Pizza.

Steen encourages people who have a favorite coffee shop or pastry place to ditch the usual for a day and try something new.

As for the future of Glazed Over, Steen said two locations is plenty.