Why is Dunkin Donuts Going Public After 61 Years as a Privately Held Company?
There's a good question posted over on Focus.com. Thought I'd copy it into the BX community..
LINK HERE http://www.focus.com/questions/why-dunkin-donuts-going-public-now-a...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on
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I am under the impression that the greater bX community does not see itself at competition with DD. It's a corporation that has compromised itself already, so going public isn't too much of a shock.
Personally, I'm more surprised that they waited so long to go public.
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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey J Kingman on
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I'm actually surprised they waited so long too. As to the first part of your reply, David Heilbrunn of Coffee Fest has been a client for nearly two years and we've had a number of conversations where he has stated his concern with the large multi-units (McDonalds, Dunkins, etc) actively seeking to diminish the competitive ability of independents - many of whom represent themselves here in bX.
Thoughts?
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If you're worried about being edged out by McDonald's, Dunkin, et al, then you're probably doing something wrong. Just my own thoughts.
"Specialty" coffee (in the true sense of the word) is in no real threat. I've seen some who do not fit that description feel "the wrath of SB", but I've never seen a legitimate shop suffer anything from the installation of a giant in their neighborhood.
Starbucks doesn't sell coffee. They sell "culture" (whatever that means). Dunkin doesn't sell coffee.. they sell donuts (and coffee on the side). McDonald's doesn't sell coffee.. they sell something resembling, but not tasting of, food (and coffee on the side). If you sell coffee, you have nothing to worry about.
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If I follow your logic...
Say I'm a pretty decent cafe with a good burger. I've enjoyed decent sales traffic, but I'm in the middle of a block in a medium size town.
I'm going to bet that I'm going to experience some percentage points of sales loss if any of the following build out on a street corner within 3-4 blocks of me:
- Fast food (ie McDucks, BK, In&Out)
- Casual (ie Applebees, etc)
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You are selling: food.
You have what may or may not be considered competition moving close by. They also sell: food.
Of course you'll see a dramatic shift in sales volume.
I am not referring to the customer's instant perception of what you sell, I am referring to the active culture within the company, and what it's focus is about. If the focus is the coffee, you are selling coffee. If the focus is something else, then that is what is being actively sold, even if the "image" is trying to say "coffee", or "cafe", or whatever else the branding may be trying to convince the customer that you are.
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Oh very true to that.
This also occurs when people write business plans and I speak to it in my Coffee Fest workshop on Social Media Optimization - the "planned" target customer vs the "actual" customer.
It's important for operators to differentiate on that, as you point out. I do think though, that part of what the bX community is, or should be, interested in, is competitively educating the average consumer to specialty coffee. Isn't that in the best interest of the community as a whole?
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Absolutely!
However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing that. My approach is to put quality where it isn't expected. No ego, no attitude, just unexpectedly outstanding coffee. What does this do?
My hope is that it elevates the "average joe's" accepted standard of what to expect in regards to a cup of coffee. It's sort of a reverse, or post-action realization. That is to say, people often don't recognize the vast difference while drinking the better coffee. They recognize it while drinking the sub-par coffee that they drank before having the better cup. This is the moment when the "ah hah" most often occurs (In my opinion, of course). This is the moment when the accepted standard is suddenly raised.
People don't like to be intimidated by information. They also don't want to be told what to care about. What works, in my opinion, is a passion for what you do, and a "live and let live" stance on customer education while providing exceptional service.
There are probably other strategies that work as well. Knowing one's market and what it will bare is pretty important for any entrepreneur or enterprise.
Jeffrey J Kingman said:Oh very true to that.
This also occurs when people write business plans and I speak to it in my Coffee Fest workshop on Social Media Optimization - the "planned" target customer vs the "actual" customer.
It's important for operators to differentiate on that, as you point out. I do think though, that part of what the bX community is, or should be, interested in, is competitively educating the average consumer to specialty coffee. Isn't that in the best interest of the community as a whole?
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I think most everyone has at some point or other had that "damn, this a great coffee" moment. Operators and baristas that focus on creating that moment with each drink sold, will be far along the path to success. It's the craft of the trade. Bringing your staff to that understanding, perhaps, takes them from a "nubie" or rookie, to "journeyman".
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I used to think that everyone did, but the longer I've been around, the more I believe that most of the population doesn't taste very well.
Professionally, I assume that everyone can taste every little flaw. Personally, I'm convinced that most people can't taste, which is why there is an abundance of sub-par food in restaurants and on grocery store shelves, and an abundance of sub-par coffee in peoples' homes.
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Say you're a decent cafe with a good cup of coffee and espresso beverages. Say the McDonalds across the parking lot (a mere 50 yards away) does a McCafe implementation, full rollout, a year or so after you've opened. If you'd expected to see a measurable drop in the sales at the pre-existing cafe, you'd have been disappointed... at least at the decent cafe I was at. No measurable drop, if anything perhaps a slight bump.
2 different worlds.
Sorry to digress, just wanted to jump in with that.
Jeffrey J Kingman said:
If I follow your logic...
Say I'm a pretty decent cafe with a good burger. I've enjoyed decent sales traffic, but I'm in the middle of a block in a medium size town.
I'm going to bet that I'm going to experience some percentage points of sales loss if any of the following build out on a street corner within 3-4 blocks of me:
- Fast food (ie McDucks, BK, In&Out)
- Casual (ie Applebees, etc)
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