It's Sunday morning. Time to wake up late if the kids don't need to be somewhere at 6:00 AM, maybe hit a late church service. Sunday is the best day of the week to wake up and veg for an hour or so. Pour some coffee, grab the paper and watch mindless TV until the brain starts sparkin' again.
I really like Sunday mornings.
When the weather is warmer, we often take a walk somewhere in town. Last year I wasn't as good as I should have been with the walk thing. This year I'll be better.
Sunday morning is also one of two mornings that people form a caravan and head to Dunkin' Donuts. It's a ritual for most. For me, I hit it on the way to work.
Having a Dunkin' Donuts in town is awesome. Having two is a bit much for a small town, but we have a lot of square miles here in Sturbridge, so if we can save seven minutes on a coffee run, why not?
Having three Dunkin' Donuts in this town of 8000 people is ludicrous. What's even more crazy is that they are all owned by the same person.
I don't know, did this person wake up one day and feel the insatiable craving to corner the coffee market in Sturbridge? Did they have an other couple of million just hanging around to buy another franchise and set up shop in the former Honey Dew Donut location?
What a person does with their money is their business. How many businesses they open and run is their business as well, but when a fool hardy move affects the lives of others in a negative way, then they need to re-think their position.
The Dunkin' Donuts on Main Street in Fiskdale has cut their hours of operation dramatically. I asked one of the folks behind the counter about this the other day and was told that they aren't bringing in the business anymore.
Go figure.
We can blame the economy, but that is too easy. Most people will still shell out $2.50 for a cup of Joe despite the gloomy picture on Wall Street. In fact, it may even help them cope. So, I wonder why the business could be off?
Well, I'm not Warren Buffet, but maybe, just maybe it was the fact that there has always been a market here in town for Dunkin' Donuts, plus what ever transient traffic there was, and that number was split fine between the two stores, but now, it is split between three stores. Doesn't take too much thinking here.
Anyway, what a business owner does is their business, but when employees hours are cut, and people are let go from the job they need because of an ill conceived business move , then it attracts my attention.
Sometimes I wonder, "What the heck are people thinking?". Does all it take to own a franchise is some cash? Isn't there an IQ test, or some business background, or training part of the deal as well?
I have no idea, I've been too busy looking into opening a Subway Restaurant here in town.
There's a need to be filled, and I'm just the guy to fill it.
Remember when Starbucks made the move to close hundreds of their coffee places? They were one of the first and it was a sign of things to come. So it seems to me that Dunkin Donuts should have become leaner before it was necessary to cut jobs and hours of operations - and so should millions of other businesses out there; but that would have sent a negative signal and *** forbid we all get real before catastrophe hits.
ReplyDeleteProblem with Dunkin's is that they are individually owned and operated. The owner of our local Dunkin Donuts is in charge of the hours of operation, and number of employees he retains. I do wonder how much corporate input there is, though.
ReplyDeleteSturbridge all ready has 2 Subway fast food joints. One is in wal-mart and it stinks up the store.
ReplyDeleteDoes OSV still have a Starbucks ?
ReplyDeleteActually, Sturbridge has three Subways. One in XtraMart, one on Route 20 in Fiskdale, and the other in Wal*Mart.
ReplyDeleteanonymous, he was making a joke. there are 3 subways in town, and 3 dunkin donuts. like we need three of any of them.
ReplyDeleteOSV does not have a Starbucks. They serve Starbucks brand coffee.
ReplyDelete