CANTON, Mass., June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, today announced that the company has filed for permits to open its first traditional restaurants in California. The new restaurants are planned for Downey, Long Beach, Modesto, Santa Monica and Whittier. Specific locations and anticipated opening dates will be announced later this summer, with construction scheduled to begin later in June, months ahead of schedule.

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The new Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in Downey and Whittier will be operated by new franchisees Danny and Coby Sonenshine, founders of Prell Restaurant Group. In Long Beach, the Dunkin' Donuts restaurant will be operated by Frontier Restaurant Group. In Santa Monica, the restaurant will be operated by Gary Haar, an existing Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins franchisee with seven restaurants in New Jersey, and his business partner Steve Silverstein. And, in Modesto, the restaurant will be operated by Sizzling Donuts, LLC, an existing franchise group with Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in Colorado, Texas and Utah.

Since opening California for franchise development in 2013, Dunkin' Donuts has executed store development agreements for nearly 200 new restaurants total to date. The company believes it can eventually have as many as 1,000 restaurants throughout the state. The company has already opened three non-traditional Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in California, including a recent Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins combination location inside the Embassy Suites San Diego Bay Downtown Hotel.

"We are pleased with the solid start to our California development plans, and today's announcement of the locations of our first new traditional Dunkin' Donuts restaurants represents development that is ahead of schedule due to the strong interest of prospective franchisees and consumers across the state," said Paul Twohig, President, Dunkin' Donuts U.S. and Canada, and Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Europe and Latin America. "We are especially happy to be partnering with such experienced and passionate franchise groups as we begin opening traditional Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in California. We look forward to keeping Californians running on our brand's high-quality coffee, sandwiches and baked goods."

The company is also announcing the signing of multi-unit store development agreements with four new franchise groups to develop 54 new restaurants throughout Southern California in the coming years, which include:


    --  New franchise group Burton Restaurants, LLC plans to develop 14
        restaurants in San Diego over the coming years. Led by military veteran
        Tali Burton, the team includes industry veteran Robert Fox and
        entrepreneur Ryan Redmond. Their first restaurant is expected to open in
        2016.
    --  Mike Stout and Neal Wichard, leaders of a new franchise group, come with
        extensive restaurant industry experience in California, will develop 16
        restaurants in Northern San Diego and Southern Inland Empire over the
        coming years. Their first restaurant is planned to open in 2015.
    --  Good Treats LLC, a new franchise group led by Bjorn Bayley and Johnny
        Andersen, who have a wealth of International and California retail
        experience, will develop 14 restaurants throughout Glendale, Burbank and
        Santa Clarita Valley over the coming years. Their first restaurant is
        planned to open in 2016.
    --  The Tasty Group LLC, whose principals include local restaurateurs and
        developers David Ahn and BJ Kim, existing franchisee Dante Rizzo, and
        Frank Giardina, plans to develop two restaurants in Santa Barbara and
        eight restaurants throughout Ventura County over the coming years, with
        the first restaurant expected to open in 2016.

Franchise opportunities for Dunkin' Donuts still remain available throughout California in Fresno, Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, Northern California, and portions of Southern California. More information about franchising opportunities in California can be found at www.dunkinfranchising.com.

Since the 1950s, Dunkin' Donuts has been a daily ritual for millions of people and has offered guests delicious food, beverages, and friendly service at a great value. Dunkin' Donuts offerings include hot and iced coffee, hot and iced tea, lattes, Dunkin' Donuts K-Cup® Packs, Coolatta® frozen drinks, donuts, muffins, bagels, breakfast and bakery sandwiches, and a DDSMART® menu featuring better-for-you menu items.

To learn more about Dunkin' Donuts, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DunkinDonuts) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/DunkinDonuts).

About Dunkin' Donuts

Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the hot regular/decaf/flavored coffee, iced coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for eight years running. The company has nearly 11,000 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide. Based in Canton, Mass., Dunkin' Donuts is part of the Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) family of companies. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com.

Contact:
Michelle King
Dunkin' Brands
781-737-5200
Michelle.King@DunkinBrands.com

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SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts