Dunkin’ Donuts Prepares For Big Dip Into Memphis Area

Commercial Appeal:

Coffee comes in lattes, smoothies, fruit flavors but stays grounded in the basics

Dunkin’ Donuts plans to fill a hole in its market by opening up to 70 stores in the Memphis area in the next seven years.

The move to Tennessee and areas in the Memphis television market outside the state is a subplot to the ongoing Dunkin’ Donuts vs. Starbucks battle, but may not have a major effect on local shops. Without a franchisee signed up yet for the area, the first magenta-and-orange store here is a year to 18 months away, said Grant Benson, vice president of franchise sales and training.

“General demographics” attracted the Canton, Mass.-based chain to the Memphis area, Benson said. That and the company’s move to expand from its East Coast base with Memphis as “a gateway to the west in many regards,” he said Thursday.

The Memphis expansion is part of a strategy to open 15,000 new stores by 2020.

Dunkin’ Donuts never moved into Memphis and other middle American and western markets before because it didn’t have the muscle to arrive in a big way, Benson said. To be in a position to support franchise owners, it had to have the ability to open more than five or six stores in a particular area, he said.

Unlike the old days when Dunkin’ Donuts served coffee to wash down the doughnuts baked in the backs of most stores, the company’s focus now is on coffee and other beverages — the lattes, smoothies and coffees with flavors from blueberry to caramel.