H-S: Time to move beyond Google

As an ex-Bostonian, I was pleased to read in the Herald-Sun today that Dunkin' Donuts is expanding its franchising in the Triangle, and with 38 new stores planned over 5 years, must certainly be able to find room for at least one of their coffee shops in Durham. (Whoever opens an outlet near the Duke and VA Med Centers is going to be quite pleased with their return on investment.)

However, I had to cringe a bit when reading the intro to the Herald-Sun article:

More Dunkin': Durhamites craving Dunkin' Donuts coffee have always wrung their hands at the lack of options available here.

There is only one Dunkin' Donuts in Durham -- at Willowdale Shopping Center -- a paltry offering compared to Raleigh's seven locations.

Well, Dunkin'-lovers, fret no more.    

There's a Dunkin' Donuts at Willowdaile? Er, not exactly. Hasn't been one since late 2006.

Interestingly, if you search Google for "Dunkin Donuts Durham," you do see the Willowdaile store listed at the top of the page, probably based on an old phone listing. But you'll see this is inaccurate if you actually search the Dunkin Donuts web site... or call the store... or check further down the first page of Google results, where the Herald-Sun's rival, the N&O, had a blog entry on the Willowdaile store closing back in December.

Of course, there's always the tried-and-true method of driving by the darned place.

Comments

[Will]

I'm not sure if 5 Dunkin Donuts is really a reason to celebrate. Their stores are ugly and while they'll be new it seems more often than not that these stores are rundown. So what will they look like 5 years from now? Plus, everyone knows that Krispy Kreme is SO much better :)

[Michael Bacon]

I pined for a Krispy Kreme for a while, but these days I just really want to see a good mom and pop doughnut shop open somewhere near downtown.

Don't get me wrong -- a Dunkin Donuts is better than nothing, but they've got that weird aftertaste...

[Joe]

The last change I noticed at the Willowdaile location was that they started selling, believe or not, Krispy Kreme. The whole enterprise continues to have an odor of moribundity. They probably need to do something badly, as one of their businesses is a coffee shop, and there's now that Starbucks drive-thru immediately across the street.

[9/9]

We need a place like this in town:

http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/

[J.]

A Tim Hortons location anywhere in the Triangle would be nice too!

http://www.timhortons.com/en/index.html

Dunkin and Timmy's sometimes open downtown locations. It might be a nice complement to the local bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants.

[JDC]

I'm pretty excited about having more Dunkin' Donuts in the area, as I too am a native New Englander, but I hope local coffee shops don't suffer as a result. It would be blasphemous to say this back home, but I prefer the taste of Counter Culture coffee to Dunkin' Donuts'!

[AMS]

Krispy Kreme used to have a location on Roxboro Rd near the 85 overpass, many moons ago. It would be nice to have one again like Wilmington, Greenville, Raleigh, Greensboro, High Point, Charlotte & of course, W-S does. Its amazing that there is only one in the entire Triangle, while the Triad has probably 5. Their coffee is really good, strong but not bitter, and their donuts go without saying....

[Bull City Rising]

I will be the first to admit that pining for a DD's to open in Durham is a bit banal for this Bull City lover as a topic. On the other hand, it appears that Dunkin' puts LIQUID CRACK in their coffee, so I'm hooked for life.

I've even driven to the Town of Scary to pick up some DD's coffee. Yes, isn't that sad?

Not as much a fan of the KK, which I remember going out of business in Orlando as a kid due to a lack of business. Much of the mystique of those was just good ol' fashioned marketing drone work, I suspect. I like a Chocolate Iced every now and then, and their coffee is better than the days of old, but in the end -- if I want just plain coffee, not some espresso thang, Dunkin's is a welcome sight.

The only really good DD in the Triangle, IMHO, is the one on the sketchy ITB portion of Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, near the no-tell-motel. I don't know why, but the donuts taste fresher, the coffee too. Most bizarre.

[Joe]

Quite some time ago, a friend of mine looked into opening a KK franchise in Durham. What he said he was told then was that KK's franchising agreement wouldn't allow for another KK franchise to be opened within 50 miles of an existing one. That meant Durham was pretty much not going to get a KK.

[Allison]

I am all for a DD in the Bull City, for two reasons. (Also because I vacationed in L.A. a couple years ago and found a KK in Burbank and ate waaaay too many of them in my three days there.) First: DD does the cake donut, which is really the way to do a donut without inclusive sugars scraping the enamel off your teeth. And second: KK lost me on the jelly donut about a year ago--they switched to this transparent, gelantinous glaze, the strawberry flavored variant of which you can buy in a plastic bag in the produce section of grocery stores. I need a jam-like substance in the jelly donut, please.