Dunkin' Donuts opens in Sanford
Jul. 21—A new Dunkin' Donuts store opened in Sanford this morning, bringing fresh coffee and breakfast pastries to city residents.
The store, across from the Tramway Crossing shopping center, gave its first 25 customers free coffee for a year. Customers still have the chance to win free coffee this week in the form of a coupon book, according to a news release. The book includes 56 coupons total for hot or iced medium coffees.
The new Dunkin' Donuts store has a modern layout designed to serve "the next generation of customers," said franchise owner Pathik Patel. One new feature is a tap system that allows baristas to pull a fresh serving of cold-brewed coffee into cup. There are taps for nitro-infused cold brews, traditional cold-brew coffee and iced teas, the release stated.
The store also has a drive-thru lane specifically for people who have pre-ordered online or through their phones, so customers can simply drive in and pick up their order.
"When you go into it, everything is front of you," Patel said. "You can see the processes of how the beverages are made. It's not in the background."
Patel assumed ownership of the Dunkin' Donuts on Horner Boulevard in 2019 and also owns multiple Dunkin' storefronts in Fayetteville, Cameron and Aberdeen, he said.
"My family was in Dunkin' since the 90s, so I kind of grew up with it," Patel said, adding that he bought his first store in 2016 after several other business ventures.
Patel said Sanford is a good place for another Dunkin' store because of the growth the city is experiencing. He sees Sanford as the next big suburb of Raleigh after Cary and Apex.
"Sanford is the next hub, and now with Google and Apple coming to Raleigh, people are flowing into Sanford," he said."Sanford is gonna be growing in the next couple years for sure. The previous owner was thinking ahead of all of this, so he started the project in 2019. The (coronavirus) pandemic held it up, but we finally finished it when we took over."
During an official ribbon-cutting for Dunkin' this morning, Patel presented a $7,500 check to the USO of North Carolina, an organization charged with supporting military servicemen and women statewide. Of the donation, $5,000 will go to the USO's Community Connections: Meals program, which offers lunches and dinners to members of the military at Fort Bragg and elsewhere.
"The USO contributes pretty much everything to these families in the military, so giving back to that organization, literally, we're giving back to our customers," Patel said. "Most of our customers (here) are in the military or have somebody (a family member) in the military."
Dunkin' Donuts, at 2231 Jefferson Davis Highway, is open from 5 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.
