Dunkin' Donuts goes upscale
The owners of a new Dunkin' Donuts have been friends since second grade.
Todd Shaw, now 36, and Dennis Krob attended St. Joan of Arc school together in Lisle. They remained friends and competed on the athletic field when Shaw went to St. Francis High School in Wheaton and Krob attended Lisle's Benet Academy.
The men recently hooked back up and decided to launch a new type of Dunkin' Donuts. Last week they opened the franchise at 600 S. County Farm Road at Roosevelt Road.
The new prototype Dunkin' Donuts is the first of its kind in the area.
"It's a higher-end store," Shaw said. He added that the interior of the shop features upscale lighting and seating and a logo that is more contemporary. More elaborate woodwork than seen in your traditional Dunkin' Donuts shop is also found inside.
The idea for the new business developed when Shaw was working in New Jersey where a friend of his owned three of the doughnut shops.
"Dunkin' Donuts is in a major expansion mode and the coffee industry is growing," Shaw said.
Shaw and Krob signed a store development agreement that states they will build five additional stores in the next four years.
Shaw said their shop serves more than just breakfast. Sandwiches and pizza are popular for lunch and dinner. The company, founded in 1950, has switched its focus to much more than doughnuts.
Dunkin' Donuts is the number one retailer of regular coffee by the cup in America, selling 2.7 million cups a day, or nearly one billion cups a year.
The company, based in Massachusetts, has more than 7,200 restaurants in 30 countries worldwide.
Prior to launching the business, Shaw, a resident of Elmhurst, worked the past six years as a stock trader in New York. Krob, who resides in Addison, had a career in marketing.
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