Goal of Waverley's Dunkin' Donut Redesign: Stop Running and Stay A While

Now the store on Church Street in Belmont's Waverley Square is one of 90 across the country which the franchisee has redesigned their outlets so customers will slow down a bit and hang out. 

After a two-week long remodeling project, the shop has been transformed into a Fresh Brew cafe-style store with softer seating for guests to stay and relax, a $13,000 digital menu board and a new community room. The remodeled shop will now offer Dunkin' Donuts Soft Serve Ice Cream.

The store at 52 Church St. "has been transformed into a Dunkin' Donuts fit for staying and relaxing," according to Sarah Grill of the public relations firm RF|BINDER.

The change is an attempt by the national coffee powerhouse based in Canton to compete with boutique coffee shops such as its direct competitor Starbucks and other restaurants such as Panera that have longed encouraged customers to take a load off. Recently, Wendy's has joined the trend by adding flat-panel TVs, fireplaces and cushioned seating to their sites.

Dunkin’ has reopened about 90 of the new stores and plans to have as many as 600 by year-end. Franchisees can choose from four options, which cost between $175,000 and $250,000 for a remodel store.

Until recently, the attitude at Dunkin’ was that “life finished” at 11 a.m., Chief Executive Officer Nigel Travis said in an interview in Bloomberg.com

“We’ve attacked that mindset” with the new store designs because Dunkin’ has been losing out on the afternoon consumer, he said.

“We haven’t always been conducive to that relaxed environment,” he said. “So soft seating, the ability to watch TV, to listen to appropriate music and just do things slightly slower than you would in the morning is what we think we’ve been missing."

The community room can be reserved in advance for business meetings, birthday parties, community events, seating between 6 to 10 people.