Hole in One

Dunkin’ Donuts has arrived in Sparks. And by all appearances, the opening day of business was a hole in one with enthusiastic throngs.

Indeed, dozens of customers lined up early last July 21 outside of the new store in the Legends Shopping Center at 435 Sparks Blvd.

Coffee and donut lovers streamed in throughout the morning for a free cup of joe.

The location marks the second Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant to open in northern Nevada, after the Carson City location set up shop in late 2014.

To celebrate the grand opening, the restaurant hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony with City of Sparks Mayor Geno Martini, the Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce and other local dignitaries. The new business will be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Customers can order at the counter or via a drive-through window.

The restaurant, at 2,100 square feet, will serve up coffee, lattes, sandwiches, donuts and bakery goods in a friendly and fun atmosphere. The new restaurant will also offer free Wi-Fi.

“We are excited to open our second Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant, giving Dunkin’ fans in northern Nevada yet another place to enjoy the coffee, sandwiches and baked goods they’ve grown to love,” said Nicole Hansen, owner of the HT2 Franchising LLC franchise group.

“We served up 800 to 900 dozen donuts today,” said Hansen adding that the business brought about 60 jobs to the community.

“We expect the same success as our debut restaurant and look forward to opening additional restaurants in the northern Nevada market in the years ahead.”

Hansen previously owned group of six privately branded coffee shops in the Seattle area.

Working with Mark Keyzers, a retail-space broker with NAI Alliance, Hansen said she is looking most closely at retail spaces that are close to high-quality residential areas for stores.

Her company looks for about 2,000 square feet for each location, with a preference for either end-cap or freestanding buildings that support drive-through operations.

Dunkin’ Donuts has said it likes locations with 15,000 residents within a three-minute drive and 25,000 residents within a five-minute drive.

The company headquartered at Canton, Mass., provides four restaurant design options for its franchise owners and franchisees can mix and match elements from each of the design options.

Hansen said she’s also preparing for the challenges of introducing the Dunkin’ Donuts brand into a new market. Although the company’s signage is sported on more than 10,000 stores worldwide and it’s been a fixture on the East Coast since 1950, Dunkin’ Donuts only recently began its push into Western markets.

While the company is known for its coffee and doughnuts, Hansen said a sandwich menu offers opportunity to grow all-day sales.

Dunkin’ Donuts started looking for potential franchisees in northern Nevada more than two years ago, and Hansen said she undertook six months of interviews and business planning before she landed the rights to develop the stores.

Hansen said she’s backed by a group of investors.

While Hansen didn’t pinpoint where the next location would be — probably opening in the next 6-8 months — one patron said he thought it would be smart to target Reno’s fast-growing South Meadows area.