Doughnut wars heat up as Dunkin’ rides into town

The store, on Merrion Street in Leeds city centre, was officially opened by the global chairman and CEO of Dunkin’, Nigel Travis.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Mr Travis said: “Leeds is now the third biggest city in the country and I think there’s a certain vibe and excitement in Leeds. Certainly from having been here first, 45 years ago, I think Leeds has come a long way.”

The opening of Dunkin’ Donuts follows hot on the heels of its rival Krispy Kreme also opening a store, at the Trinity shopping centre.

For Mr Travis it’s a small world. “The CEO of Krispy Kreme used to work for me at Papa John’s,” he said.

Mr Travis added: “We see them around the world. They do a very good job but we’re different, we’re focused very much on beverages as well as doughnuts, but we also have the sandwiches.

“We’re very different, but obviously we think our doughnuts are the best and we’re the number one doughnut seller in the world by a long way.”

Though Krispy Kreme is located at the flagship Trinity development, Jim Johnstone, general manager of Dunkin’ Brands – UK, believes that their location is ideal for several reasons.

Mr Johnstone said: “The first one is the visibility around the city centre, you can see it from four streets walking up to here.

“We’ve also got the Leeds Arena closer to us and we’ve also got the universities closer to us as well.

“We’ve also got quite a lot of space here, so you’ve got the two floors with 85 seats in total.”

Not being based in a shopping centre means that Dunkin’ isn’t hamstrung by trading hour restrictions.

He said: “There’s an opportunity here to develop our opening hours, with the nightlife surrounding this location as well.

“So with a nightclub right next door to it, we can open until much later in the evening.

“The reason that we can do that here is because the entrance to the store is not inside a shopping centre. Shopping centres are great but limit trading hours because once the shopping centre closes the store has to close.”

Currently the store will be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays. But Mr Johnstone says they’re looking at extending opening hours.

“I think it’s a big opportunity for us here to ramp it up into late evening, early morning,” he said.

The Dunkin’ Donuts store in Leeds will incorporate Baskin-Robbins, part of Dunkin Brands, ice cream, making the Merrion Street restaurant a combi-store.

Mr Travis says the emphasis is very much on comfort in this branch of Dunkin’ and it will also have a bigger menu than other stores. He said: “I think we’ve got more soft seating in here, we want people to sit and feel comfortable, than probably any store I have seen anywhere in the world.”

The menu at Dunkin’ is halal, an attempt by the US giant, with over 11,400 restaurants in 39 countries, to cater to the wider ethnic mix of Leeds.

Mr Travis said: “The other thing that I think is important about Leeds is that it has got a really strong ethnic mix in the population and we’re catering for those people.

“One of the great things with our menu is we can cater around the world. I’ve been to New York where, we have a strong Jewish population, we have a lot of Kosher products.”

Mr Travis, who grew up in Woodford, London, added: “I think the ethnic mix globally is becoming much more important and obviously I see this in London. London has evolved in my 65 years dramatically and obviously Leeds is doing the same.”

The store will be run under a franchise agreement with Batley-based petrol forecourt company Spring Petroleum.

Around 25 jobs will be created at the new store. Dunkin’ says it sells globally around 2.8 billion doughnuts per year.

The retail expert

Born in Woodford, London Nigel Travis has worked at four big retail brands – Papa John’s, Burger King, Blockbuster and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Mr Travis still maintains an affinity with his hometown football club Leyton Orient. To the point that he paid to sponsor the team using the Dunkin’ Donuts-Baskin-Robbins brand, but paid out of his own pocket.

Dunkin’ opened its first UK restaurant in Harrow back in 2013. The Leeds store is the first in the North of England.

Spring Petroleum has 26 locations across the North, and it said it is hoping to open more Dunkin’ stores.