[Dominick Copas | Banner] An employee at the newest Dunkin’ Donuts location fills a box with a dozen of the store’s signature doughnuts during a busy morning shift.
Located 15 minutes away from California Baptist University, Dunkin’ Donuts opened its newest location Sept. 30, making this the 12,000th location of its worldwide chain.
While the doughnut and coffee chain is familiar to the East Coast, Riverside may now experience Dunkin’ Donuts’ delicious taste at the Riverside branch located at 4922 La Sierra Ave. The newest location is another step in the company’s westward expansion, along with the two other Dunkin’ Donuts already opened in the Southern California region.
Samantha Mix, junior health science major, said she knew why Riverside may have been chosen for the company’s local installation.
“Riverside makes a good location for a Dunkin’ Donuts because there are a lot of college students in this city who want to go for a late-night doughnut run,” Mix said.
Although there are thousands of college students who are avid doughnut eaters, the company may face a challenge from its competitors who have been in the area for much longer. Aside from the smaller coffee shops with loyal local customers, the business may also be wary of much larger challengers.
Dunkin’ Donuts is up against other local doughnut businesses to gain customers., despite the thousands of college students who live in and around Riverside.
Mikayla Price, freshman health science major, said she does not believe these competitors will be a problem.
“There are a lot of doughnut shops around, like Yum Yum and Winchell’s,” Price said. “However, they are probably not as well-known as Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Following the excitement of its opening, the employees look forward to serving their holiday season food items and specialty drinks that are tailored specifically for holidays.
Similar to other restaurants, Dunkin’ Donuts welcomes the droves of customers looking for their “fall flavor” fix and will offer them pumpkin spice- and maple-flavoring toppings and fillings.
“The start of the holiday season has really given us the boost that we were looking for as everyone has been extremely excited for pumpkin-flavored doughnuts, Munchkins and drinks,” said Akash Bhalani, operations manager.
While the holiday season gifts the company with a lot of business, the new location may be looking forward to success after the new year as the Riverside community becomes familiar with its coffee and doughnuts.
