About 8% of Dunkin’ locations will be permanently closed
The popular coffee and doughnuts fast food chain, Dunkin’ (previously Dunkin’ Donuts), has revealed its plan to shut down about 8% of its retail locations, which amounts to roughly 800 stores. Among these closures, 450 stores will be in Speedways, a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in collaboration with Dunkin’. Additionally, there is a possibility that over 350 Dunkin’ stores outside of the US might face closure, but this decision has not been finalized yet.
Alongside these closures, Dunkin’ reported an 18.7% decrease in its in-store sales during the previous fiscal quarter, although towards the end of last week, the losses were mitigated and were only in single digits. This decline in sales is primarily attributed to the reluctance of customers to visit Dunkin’ outlets in person due to the continuous surge of the pandemic in the United States. Another contributing factor is the rise in adults working from home, leading to a decline in visits to Dunkin’ locations near office buildings. However, there was a partial offset in losses from bulk orders by certain customers who opted for larger food quantities and higher-priced items from the menu.
Dunkin’ joins the ranks of various fast-food chains facing business challenges due to the pandemic. Companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks have also had to close down underperforming stores, resulting in an estimated total of 1,500 closures across all impacted chains since the pandemic took a toll on the US starting from March.
