Dunkin' Donuts Move to Southern California with 150 Restaurants by 2015; Looking for Franchisees

By Dexter Keyton

Dunkin' Brands Group announced on Wednesday that around 150 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants will open in southern California within the next two years.

The company plans on opening all their new donut shops in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura and Orange counties by 2015.

"We are delighted to begin 2013 with the long-awaited announcement that Dunkin' Donuts will be opening restaurants in California, where there is already incredible passion for our brand," the company said in a recent statement reported by Fox News. "Expansion to California has always been part of our plan to grow Dunkin' Donuts' presence in the U.S."

This is only the beginning for the company currently looking for franchisees to open as they eventually plan on bringing around 1,000 Dunkin' Donuts to California.

The company also posted the news on the official Twitter for Dunk' Brands Group, saying, "The wait is almost over, California. We're coming in 2015, and we're bringing coffee and donuts." The tweet also had a link to a statement by CEO Nigel Travis that also announced the big news.

The donut shop stated that it has been expanding in new markets across the U.S. and will also continue to open new restaurants in existing markets. Its long-term goal is to have more than 15,000 Dunkin' Donuts locations in the U.S.

Dunkin' Donuts opened 291 new restaurants in the U.S. last year and tt plans to open 330 to 360 new locations in the U.S. in 2013, according to The Huffington Post. The company previously had restaurants in California but closed most of their locations in 1999.

Dunkin' Brands, which also runs Baskin-Robbins, has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries.

In November of 2012 the company attempted to officially trademark the claim that they served the "Best Coffee in America." The claim was ultimately rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, who would not allow the company to use it exclusively to sell coffee.