Dunkin’ to Close 800 US Locations

Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images

The coffee chain will permanently shutter 8% of its locations.

Coffee and doughnuts fast food chain Dunkin’ (formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts) announced yesterday that it will be permanently closing down 8% of its retail locations, which accounts for approximately 800 stores. 450 of these closures will occur in Speedways, a gas station and convenience store chain with which Dunkin’ has a partnership. At least 350 Dunkin’ locations outside of the US may close as well, though this has not been definitively decided as of yet.


In addition to the closures, Dunkin’ announced that their in-store sales were down 18.7% in the previous fiscal quarter, though things did manage to improve to only single digit losses by the end of last week. While that statistic excludes sales lost due to temporary store closures, the cause remains no less clear: customers are far less eager to visit a Dunkin’ in person while the pandemic is still surging in the United States. The notable increase of adults working from home has also reduced the frequency of coffee runs to Dunkin’ locations near office buildings. Bulk orders from certain customers did manage to offset these losses somewhat, with certain customers ordering large quantities of food and choosing more expensive menu items.

Credit: Reuters

Dunkin’ is the latest of several fast food chains whose business has been impacted by the pandemic. Chains including McDonalds and Starbucks have been forced to close lower performing locations, with the total number of closures across all affected chains hovering around 1,500 since the pandemic hit the US in full force in March.

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