Dunkin’ To Close Nearly 800 Stores; Will Your Dunkin’ Be Affected?

Dunkin' just announced that it plans on closing approximately 800 of its restaurants this year. This number includes the 450 Dunkin' closures inside of Speedway gas stations, which they previously announced.

The 800 closures equate to approximately 8% of the company's United States restaurants, they say. The news was shared during the company's second-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

Since the chain previously announced that 450 stores inside Speedway gas stations would be closing this year, this means that approximately an additional 350 United States Dunkin' stores will close before the end of 2020.

"Given the strength and stability of our franchised model, coupled with our franchisees' ongoing business recovery, we remain confident in our ability to maintain appropriate liquidity through the current crisis," Kate Jaspon, Dunkin's Chief Financial Officer, said on Thursday.

Which locations will be closed?

The company says those decisions will be made on a "gross basis as part of a real estate portfolio rationalization being performed in conjunction with its franchisees, with the goal of setting the U.S. system up for continued strong, profitable future growth."

The company reported a sales decline of 18.7% in the second quarter of 2020, but they say that their sales improved "sequentially throughout the quarter." They estimate that 96% of their U.S. locations were open as of July 25. The majority of the company's closed locations are based in places like college campuses and transportation hubs. amid the coronavirus pandemic.

An additional 350 stores outside of the U.S. could close before the end of 2020 as well, they say.