Fayetteville — The Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of Route 5 and Route 257 in the village of Fayetteville opened it’s doors in the community on Dec. 22, and business so far has been good.
“We just opened but it’s been busy. We’ve gotten a lot of families meeting here to figure out a plan for holiday shopping,” said Pat Burkhart, district manager of the franchise.
The new location is at 501 E. Genesee St., in the former Friendly’s Restaurant building that closed down in 2013. The location will employ approximately 30 staff members, and Burkhart said they are currently looking for applicants.
One unique feature of this Fayetteville location of Dunkin’ Donuts includes a community meeting room with a presentation screen that can be booked by groups and organizations for free, which is a feature Burkhart said the national company is hoping to bring to franchises in the future. So far, already three groups have booked the room. Free wifi is available to the public as well.
“We really hope that this can be an asset to the area. We have a comfortable layout,” said Burkhart. “It’s part of being apart of the community. I don’t think there are many good community rooms in Fayetteville.”
Burkhart also pointed out that all of the doughnuts at this location are made fresh on site.
“A lot of people are surprised to hear that. There’s nothing better than a freshly glazed doughnut that melts right in your mouth,” said Burkhart. “Come in and visit us, we’re not your typical Dunkin’ Donuts.”
The project was first brought to the village board in February 2015, and the site plan was approved by the Fayetteville Planning Board on June 1. There will be no drive-thru at this location and no zone change was needed for the project, according to planning board records, but Burkhart said he would like to see a drive-thru at this location in the future.
continued — Although the restaurant was slated to open in mid-November, Burkhart said there was a delay because of problems on the construction side of the project and the fact that the whole parking lot needed to be raised for drainage improvements.
Development of the previous Friendly’s property was an item on a Top 10 list of goals for the village, which was presented by Mayor Mark Olson at the board of trustee’s Jan. 12, 2015 meeting.
The newly opened Dunkin’ Donuts is located at 501 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville and is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
