Dunkin' Honors Local History At New Mendham Borough Shop

MENDHAM, NJ — Last week, the wait finally ended as the anticipated Dunkin' on Main Street opened its doors to the Mendham community after years of planning.

The coffee shop, which has been described as a "next-generation Dunkin' restaurant," was first approved for 25 East Main Street in December 2018, following initial public objections to the proposed drive-thru and commercial business.

However, this application was withdrawn before hearings could begin because of strong apparent opposition, notably from nearby neighbors. After that, the application changed its design by getting rid of the drive-through.

Since the acceptance, several locals have voiced worries about maintaining the borough's historic heritage on social media, arguing that the contemporary signs did not suit the neighborhood's culture.

The store, which opened last week, was designed to be historically consistent with the borough's standards, something that Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and other residents said was very important to the community.

Along with the traditional architecture, the new Dunkin' shop found additional ways to honor the heritage of its location.

A framed historical narrative discussing the previous use of the site has been hung inside the building.

The plaque states that the 25 East Mendham site was once the home of Gabriel Saccone, who was a founding father of Mendham and settled there in 1868 after emigrating from Italy.

Saccone, who was a farmer, used the site to provide housing to fellow immigrants who ventured to Mendham to seek a better life in the United States. In the 1920s, a former tenant of the boarding house, Pietro Clementi, a native of Sicily, became the owner of the home and continued to operate it as a boarding house.

In the 1970s, the building became a bank and then, later, a French restaurant for more than two decades.

The property is currently home to Dunkin', one of the world's greatest international coffee and doughnut corporations, which was started in 1950 and now has over 13,200 locations in almost 40 countries.

"As Mayor, I am honored to welcome new businesses like Dunkin's. Dunkin's has so much they will be contributing to our community," Glassner previously told Patch.

The coffee and doughnut shop is open every day from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m.