By the end of the year, Dunkin' will close around 450 branches in Speedway gas station convenience shops, a decision that was first disclosed in February, the company confirmed on Tuesday to USA Today.
The coffee and donut chain announced that the sales from those stores made up less than 0.5 percent of US-based margins last year. Very few of the roughly 450 Speedway owned and operated Dunkin' locations have shut down to date, and the company said it remains on course to exit Speedway, the statement said.
Based on a Dunkin' statement provided to Today Food, the move will help support the company's efforts to focus on its broader standalone cafes. The dissolution of the partnership between Dunkin' and the gas station group was first made public in an earnings call last February.
Dunkin' stores located inside the gas stations, which are primarily situated on the East Coast, are much smaller compared to the typical standalone branches and also have limited food offerings. The soon-to-be-closed sites inside of the convenience stores were first unveiled in agreement with Hess, which Speedway bought in 2014.
The donut chain said it will continue to search for new arrangements with gas stations and other sites, like airports, schools, travel plazas, and military installations about setting up more stores.
Back in 2018, Dunkin' Donuts began making what it calls their next generation of shops. They are sleeker and offers a restaurant ambiance. They launched the first of these shops in Massachusetts, and then in Southern California, where the donut chain did not have a presence for years.
Coffee rival Seattle-headquartered coffee giant Starbucks disclosed in June that it plans to shut down up to 400 company-operated shops in the next 18 months. The coffee chain said that while it was pulling the plug on the branches, it plans to fast-track the expansion of "convenience-led formats" like curbside pickup, drive-thrus and mobile-only pickup shops.
The regional closures come in the face of a big brand revamp that started in January last year when Dunkin' dropped the word "Donuts" from its brand name.
Since then, the group has made some important initiatives that included putting up new espresso equipment, getting rid of styrofoam and selling most of its beverages in eco-friendly cups, and adding plant-based proteins to its popular breakfast sandwiches.
There are more than 12,000 Dunkin' Donut shops around the world. They make around $9 billion each year. Dunkin' still has more than 8,500 restaurants in 41 states in the US.
