Not unusual with mature chain store growth. Thousands of stores; some have got to not be doing well, and with increased costs, natural or by government order, the bottom 5-10% of under performers will close. Culling of the heard.
Tastes change, too. People aren’t as interested in high-fat, gooey, yummy doughnuts anymore. I hear carrot and celery sticks are what people demand these days.
“Not unusual with mature chain store growth. Thousands of stores; some have got to not be doing well, and with increased costs, natural or by government order, the bottom 5-10% of under performers will close. Culling of the heard.”
Other factors:
1) Cannibalizaiton. As retail chains build out, stores become so close together they can take significant business from other stores instead of all customers being incremental at the new store.
2) Competition. Dunkin competes with its own stores by selling its coffee in grocery stores and at Costco. Starbucks, local coffee chains, even the local grocery store, compete with Dunkin.
3) Management. Franchisees with multiple stores cannot control the operation of each store. Unless they hire exceptional managers for each location (very expensive), the quality of customer service becomes much lower than when the owner is on site. One of the strengths of Chick fil A is that it allows franchisees to own only one store and they must work the store. Absentee management is not effective in retail, particularly food service.
4) Fickle customers. Many consumers ride trends. They try something new, indulge in it over a period of time, and then move on to the next thing or look for a lower cost substitute once the formerly great new thing becomes old.
5) Demographic trends. As people age and move into retirement the need for a quick coffee and donuts breakfast declines and is an easy expense item to eliminate when on a reduced income. With aging comes lower levels of activity and more issues with controlling weight as well as dealing with the issue of dealing with diseases often related to obesity. That morning donut goes away when the doctor says lose 30 pounds or face being diabetic.
This sounds more like a franchisee calling it quits.
my guess these closing stores are associated with gas station/convenience stores
Baskin Robins screwed over hundreds of franchisees decades ago by simply refusing to renew their franchise license for no reason other than the company wanted less stores. Why anyone would get in bed with this company is beyond me.