The coffee wars are on in Southwest Florida. While Starbucks is closing some of its stores in the region, Dunkin' Donuts is on a growth spurt, particularly with non-traditional locations recently opened in travel plazas and airports.
Dunkin' Donuts is gaining on Starbucks in the area, including at the Southwest Florida International Airport, as consumers look for lower priced pick-me-ups, according to a story in The News-Press.
Dunkin' Donuts is targeting the area for franchise growth and recently opened 19 non-traditional locations, with more planned in two Florida universities. Six of those locations were in Florida Turnpike travel plazas and were previously occupied by Starbucks.
According to The News-Press:
"The recession probably is a plus for Dunkin' Donuts ... and a minus for Starbucks," said Darren Tristano, executive vice president for Technomic, a Chicago-based food industry consulting firm.Dunkin' Donuts has more lower-priced offerings, Tristano said. And although Starbucks has a passionately loyal following, he thinks some of those customers have slimmer wallets these days, and visit less often.
