Dunkin' Buys 31 Ohio Restaurants In Shift From Franchisee Model

CANTON, MA - Coffee powerhouse Dunkin' shifted its strategy earlier this week, buying 31 restaurants in Ohio that it intends to keep rather than allowing franchisees to operate them.

On Monday, the company announced the purchase in an article in Restaurant Business. It began looking at Ohio properties to acquire this summer, as its Ohio market generates 10% to 20% higher sales than the national average, the article noted.

Dunkin' plans to continue its franchise-driven model but wants to keep a small number of its restaurants open to better understand the issues that affect franchise operators. The last time Dunkin' purchased a franchise was about five years ago.

This is part of the company's "asset light" model, according to Dunkin’ President Scott Murphy. While franchisees will continue to run the majority of the chain's 9,500 U.S. locations, the company ultimately plans to own 100 to 200 restaurants to test new strategies.

“This helps us get close to day-to-day operations,” Murphy said. “We can feel the pain franchisees feel. It lets us make decisions on that.”

While many older and larger fast-food chains have turned to letting franchisees run their operations, Dunkin's parent company, Inspire Brands, is pushing for all of its brands to operate some restaurants in addition to their franchises.

Inspire purchased Dunkin' Brands Group, which also includes Baskin-Robbins, in December of 2020 for $11.3 billion.

The Dunkin' restaurants can also be used to test new products and technology.

Patch reached out to Dunkin's Canton headquarters for further comments about its strategy and will update the article when new information becomes available.