Dunkin’ Donuts, a Massachusetts-based franchiser that got its start more than 50 years ago frying doughnuts in a Boston suburb, plans to challenge Starbucks for coffee supremacy.
The company is set to announce Friday plans to nearly double the number of stores in the Chicago area during the next four years as it launches a nationwide expansion that will more than triple the number of stores it now operates by 2015.
It hopes to grow from 4,400 to 15,000 stores–giving it more locations than Starbucks and McDonald’s currently have.
“It is an aggressive expansion, but it is important to us to be very convenient,” said Lynette McKee, vice president of franchising for Dunkin’ Brands Inc., the Canton, Mass.-based parent of the doughnut franchiser.
McKee said that under the expansion plans approved by Dunkin’s owners, a consortium of global private equity firms consisting of Bain Capital LLC, The Carlyle Group, and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, the doughnut chain will add more than 700 stores annually during the next decade.
She said the company likely will first target the Dallas area, followed by the Phoenix area, for the rollout of its national expansion. Chicago will serve as the company’s “gateway” to the West, she said.
Currently, only 60 Dunkin’ Donut stores are located west of the Mississippi. Its stores can be found in just 36 states.
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