Dunkin' Donuts makes its debut

Company plans to open 60 valley locations

To the delight of many East Cost transplants, Dunkin' Donuts opened its first location in Nevada on Oct. 16 at 409 E. Silverado Ranch Blvd.

Hugh and Lillian Chaney, 84 and 82 respectively, have been fans of the doughnut company since they were children. They each grew up where Dunkin' Donuts was already established.

"In New Jersey, there's a Dunkin' Donut on practically every corner," Lillian Chaney said.

Sandy Nathan of Summerlin grew up in Syracuse, N.Y. For years, each time she traveled to the East Coast, she would buy Dunkin' Donuts' ground coffee beans for brewing at home.

Likewise, Mark Richards has been a longtime fan. He claimed a corner table for his doughnut, coffee and morning newspaper.

"When I heard they were opening, I kept driving by each day to (see the progress)," he said. "Now, this is how I start my day."

Ilene Macy moved here from Massachusetts, where the company is headquartered Canton. She, too, said she had been waiting for Dunkin' Donuts to make its Las Vegas debut. Asked what makes a good doughnut, she said, "the way it's made."

John Myers, corporate marketing manager for Dunkin' Donuts, estimated that 80 percent of Las Vegas customers were transplants who already knew the product.

"They're emotionally attached to us," he said.

The very first day, Myers said, the store set a national sales record, something it repeated the two days following. Myers should know -- he spent 14 hours outdoors, handing out menus on day one while directing traffic through the drive-through.

"It was crazy, but in a good way," he said. "And the timing of the opening was perfect. If it had been in the heat of August, forget it."

The company reported that the Silverado Ranch store broke the record for first-day sales by 16 percent and the record for first-week sales by 41 percent. It poured 8,666 cups of coffee during the first week and served more than 89,500 donuts.

If they were stacked in dozen boxes, those donuts would reach higher than the Stratosphere and would be taller than Paris Las Vegas' Eiffel Tower almost three times over.

"We are thrilled to have achieved such record success with the opening of the first Dunkin' Donuts in Las Vegas," said Don DeMichele, chairman and chief executive officer of Dunkin' Donuts franchisee Kainos Partners. "We always believed that people who live and work here would demonstrate the passion for Dunkin' Donuts' coffee and baked goods already so prevalent throughout the eastern U.S."

The menu features more than donuts. There are muffins and bagels, pizza and flatbread sandwiches. Coffee can enhanced with nine different flavors.

The second restaurant opened on Oct. 30 in Henderson at 171 N. Gibson Road. The company is currently expanding in existing cities while entering new markets throughout the country, with plans to ultimately triple the number of Dunkin' Donuts stores in the United States to 15,000 by 2020.

Plans are for Las Vegas to see 60 other Dunkin' Donuts locations open throughout the valley over the next several years. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com.