They’re converting the old Capitol One Bank on Route 34 in Matawan to a Dunkin’ Donuts. That’s a half-mile down the road from the Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of Route 34 and Route 79. That seems awfully close, unless the older one is closing. The new one will have that feature that has become a necessity, a drive-thru. I suppose that why two Starbucks can exist only a mile apart–one has a drive-thru. And so maybe two Dunkin’ Donuts can too. The way drive-thrus work tends to impact the inside service, which means that you basically have one store for the driver-thruers, and the other for the sit-insiders.
As long as the parking for the insiders is generous. The two locations in Keyport back fired.
I had to grin at this, as a former NJ resident.
Come to Massachusetts (I’ve lived here since 1989), where Dunkin is headquartered. You will see them on practically every other block in Boston.
In my town north of Boston, there are 7 locations, two of which are 0.2 miles from each other. Granted, they’re not all full-blown standalone stores, but often tucked into part of a convenience stores/gas station. But there’s always a Dunks nearby up here. (I don’t drink their coffee, and their donuts have gone way downhill since they rarely bake them in each franchise store.)
So hearing about them being a half mile from each other is not uncommon. Market saturation.
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My understanding is the old one is closing after the new one opens.
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Very familiar with this! Especially the location off the MA turnpike into Natick.
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Not to mention the Dunkin’ inside the Shop-Rite on Lloyd Road.
During the late 2020/early 2021 lock down, I went out looking for a cup of coffee early on a Friday night. Starbucks after Starbucks had closed for the evening, despite my phone telling me otherwise. It became an adventure as I meandered through town after town, eventually ending up at the Lloyd Plaza Dunkin’ in Shop Rite, which is nowhere near where I live and completely out of the question as a place I would drive to for a drink. By that time it was too late for anything caffeinated and I got a chamomile tea instead. It’s the one experience that I will always remember as capturing the essence of how things were at the height of the pandemic.
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And your understanding is correct. Now I wonder what will happen to the old one. I will make my usual plea: we could really use a good Ethiopian restaurant here.And I will make the inevitable prediction: it will probably be some sort of Italian/pizzeria.
I grew up in Lakeridge and remember well the Dunkin on 34 & 79
