For a long time, Dunkin’ Donuts has been spreading out all over the US, much like Starbucks. It’s been a popular place for people to get coffee and snacks, especially in New England where you can find Dunkin’ Donuts almost everywhere.
But now, Dunkin’ is saying they’re closing 450 stores that are in Speedway stores along the east coast. This means if you’re used to getting donuts or coffee while filling up your car, you might have to settle for lower-quality coffee from gas stations and prepackaged donuts instead of Dunkin’s usual stuff.
The Dunkin’ stores that are inside gas stations haven’t been making much money for the company. They only made up for less than 0.5 percent of Dunkin’s sales in 2019. Scott Murphy, who is in charge of Dunkin’ in the Americas, said this. Because of this, Kate Japson, who handles the money for the company, decided to close these stores. They’re going to use the money they save to open new stores that make more money.
Japson said, “By closing these stores, and not losing much money, we think we can open better Dunkin’ restaurants in these areas later on. These new restaurants will have more food options.”
She also said, “We’re going to close 450 Dunkin’ stores that are in Speedway gas stations during 2020. This is because we agreed with Speedway to do this. These stores have a smaller menu and don’t sell as much, together making up less than 0.5 percent of all the Dunkin’ sales in the US.”
Right now, Dunkin’ has 9,600 stores altogether. This gives customers plenty of places to go for coffee and to fill up their cars.
But shutting down these stores might be hard for Dunkin’ because of COVID-19. With stores closing and people uncertain about money, they’re spending less on things like coffee, which some see as a luxury. They might choose to buy their coffee from grocery stores instead.
Even with this challenge, Dunkin’s CEO, Dave Hoffman, says they’re still focused on making customers happy. They’re doing things like having more drive-thru locations, letting people order on their phones, and working with delivery companies like GrubHub.
Because of the virus, people are staying home more often. Dunkin’ wants to be there for people when they need comfort the most.
Hoffman said, “For more than 70 years, Dunkin’ has been important to the communities we’re in. We’ve been helping America and taking care of our customers. Even with all the uncertainty, we’re still here for people. We’re doing extra things to make people feel better during these tough
