Marketing and all things related

To our knowledge, there was only ever one Dunkin’ Donuts location in Columbus, OH, and that one closed a few years ago. We shed a tear. While you know Marketing Blurb only eats the healthiest of foods, we confess we have scarfed down a few Dunkin’ Donuts in our day. So we keep a candle lit hoping for DD to return to town. Maybe our luck will change, because we just learned from The Washington Post (free registration required,) that Dunkin’ Donuts is serious about expansion. We’re talking 10,000 new US locations by 2020. Washington DC and Baltimore will score a disproportion share of the earliest openings. At present, Dunkin’ Donuts only has 4400 locations—but the new push will make them a contender to Starbucks with their 8600 locations. (Of course, Starbucks will certain open umpteen stores over the same period.) But not everyone shares our enthusiasm. Bill Hulkower, a food analyst for Mintel International Group, a Chicago market-research firm says, "At some point, you can't have a coffee shop for every man, woman and child." We agree because your child probably does not need a coffee shop. On the other hand, we will be happy to double up on the coffee shops abandoned by your children.