Dunkin' Donuts may be considering a name change, if a new store opening in California is any indication.
Later this month, a new store opening in Pasadena will just be called Dunkin' without Donuts being part of the name, according to CBS Los Angeles. Prell Restaurant Group said it will be the only one in the country with the different name, at least for now.
“The signage at our Pasadena restaurant is unique to this specific location,” a spokesperson for Prell Coby Sonenshine said, CBS LA reported.
Dunkin' Brands announced previously that it was slowing the pace of new restaurant openings for the rest of 2017 while it worked to redesign the format of stores.
As of October 2016, the chain had 11,300 locations in 37 countries, according to Mental Floss. Dunkin' Donuts serves about 3 million customers a day and has 52 varieties of donuts.
The renaming seems to be an effort to focus more on the beverage part of its sales — mainly coffee and frozen drinks, CBS Los Angeles said.
When the first Dunkin' Donuts store was opened in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1948, it was called Open Kettle, but the name was soon changed after the architect came up with the name Dunkin' Donuts in 1950. Original owner William Rosenberg was one of the first franchisers in the U.S. and he founded the International Franchise Association in 1960.
Stores still use the original coffee recipe developed by Rosenberg in 1948.