Many long-time Dunkin’ franchisees still point to the introduction of the bagel as the rocket fuel that ignited this brand. Others may say it was the relentless commitment to marketing and advertising. For Dunkin’s new owner, Inspire Brands, the next great thing may be created soon at the company’s new Inspire Innovation Center in Atlanta.…
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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 »Over-regulating book-end municipalities from both coasts are looking to impose new regulations on third-party delivery companies. The New York City Council is now entertaining a package of proposed ordinances that would regulate the operations of third-party delivery companies such as Grubhub, DoorDash, UberEats and others. The proposals, filed by Councilman Mark Gjonaj, Chairman of the…
Read More »Starbucks reported exceedingly strong Q4 earnings this week with comparable sales up 6% in the US and Rewards Membership increasing 15% year over year to a current enrollment of 17.6 million! In other recent news, Starbucks announced last week that it was investing $10 million in four community lenders to drive economic opportunity in some…
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Kiosks, online delivery and license plate recognition technology are three of the latest concepts being rolled out at quick service restaurants across the country. They represent groundbreaking changes in an industry that’s looking to not only maximize efficiency and manage costs, but also appeal to a tech-savvy customer base hungry for innovation. In this issue…
Read More »The New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) is entertaining a new regulation that would prohibit restaurant establishments with liquor licenses from paying more than 10% for third-party deliveries. Note that under the pending regulation, the third-party service would not be restricted from charging whatever fee they believed the market would bear, rather the prohibition is…
Read More »Starbucks dominates our competitor news this week on a few fronts. Most notable is that 6 police officers at a Tempe Arizona store were asked to leave by an employee because of a complaint that a customer did not feel safe in their presence! (????) Boston Herald columnist Joe Fitzgerald, after writing about the incident,…
Read More »McDonald’s has had a rough ride for the past year or so with their sales and income both plummeting and not enough of their customers still “lovin’ it”, but the Golden Arches appears intent on plowing ahead into new areas. This week, the burger behemoth announced they will begin testing delivery service from selected stores…
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We noted a couple of interesting stories on Starbucks over the past few weeks that you might be interested in. First, we noted that they launched a huge roastery and “coffee bar” on Capital Hill in Seattle last week. The 15,000 square foot roastery will be used solely for roasting, tasting and education their customers…
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