Dunkin' expands its java empire in the Southwest
As it pursues the caffeine equivalent of Manifest Destiny, Dunkin' Donuts disclosed today plans by three franchisees to open 150 coffee-and-baked-goods cafes in the Phoenix area.
Phoenix is "now sold out," said the chain, a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands Inc. of Canton.
Well entrenched in its native Northeast, Dunkin' Donuts is embarked on an aggressive national expansion strategy; two years ago, it said it planned to triple the number of its US stores to 15,000 by 2020.
In today's announcement, the chain noted that the Las Vegas market as well as several markets in Texas are also sold out and added that the Dunkin' Donuts is now poised to have a "strong footprint in the southwestern United States."
In 2006, Dunkin' Brands was purchased for $2.43 billion by a group of private equity firms that included two Boston buyout companies, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
