According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), travel on U.S. roads fell nearly 40 percent in April 2020 compared to the previous April, dropping to the lowest point in 25 years. FHA notes the Northeast region saw the largest drop in miles driven. As COVID-19 upended life’s typical routines – like commuting to work –…
Read More »
In late May, with cities and states loosening shelter-in-place restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Dunkin’ Brands announced it was ready to examine how to best reopen its seating areas. In a blog post dated May 29, Dunkin’ wrote, “We are now exploring the most judicious ways to once again offer in-restaurant dining,” emphasizing,…
Read More »
Few of today’s Dunkin’ franchisees can say they’ve been with the brand for 50 years. And only one (that we know of) has logged more than 20 years at both Dunkin’ Brands and as a franchisee. So, when it came time to talk about the evolution of Dunkin’ Donuts, it was an easy decision to…
Read More »
In mid-January, the law firm Paris Ackerman announced the acquisition and financing of 47 Dunkin’ franchised restaurants in Southeast Florida. That came a week after the firm announced the acquisition and financing of 11 Dunkin’s – and five parcels of real estate – in New York. At the end of January, the firm announced it…
Read More »
The Gaylord Opryland Hotel has a long and storied history. Initially designed to emulate a southern estate, the Opryland Hotel opened to much fanfare on Thanksgiving Day, 1977. During the 1980s, the property expanded in size by two acres and added more than 1,200 guest rooms, a garden conservatory and waterfalls. And in the 1990s,…
Read More »
As franchisee profits were declining, brand leaders initiated cost-cutting moves to help bolster its earnings—ignoring a plea from its independent franchisee association to get together and talk about the issues that were crippling the company. This was the climate at Jack in the Box in July 2018 when its independent franchisee association, the JIB-NFA (National…
Read More »
October 28th & 29th, 2019 DDIFO Conference Home At 6.7 million square feet, Foxwoods Resort and Casino is larger than the Pentagon. Since it opened – first as a high-stakes bingo hall in 1986 and then as a full-fledged casino in 1992 – Foxwoods has raked in billions of dollars in revenue. This year, Foxwoods…
Read More »
Dunkin’ franchisees from across New England gathered in late April for the annual NE regional meeting. DDIFO invited new business members to join the event at the Sheraton Needham Hotel. Labor attorney Dan Field, a former Chief of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, was a featured speaker and touched on critical issues like…
Read More »
Espresso-based drinks are “the future” Espresso is a term derived from the Latin “to press” and the Italian word for “to press out.” It refers to strong black coffee made by forcing steam through finely-ground coffee beans. In Italy, people stand and socialize at their local espresso bar while they wait for their hot shot to…
Read More »
A recent article in the restaurant news site Eater referred to data as “the new gold,” pointing out that “consumers should know that in 2018, basically every restaurant and business is trying to collect personal data — some are just more up front about it than others.” Speaking at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference in Dallas…
Read More »