Blue Moon Medfield Dunkin Donuts Hiring Near Me

Brett M. Rhyne

The possibility of a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in the building that formerly housed Medfield Friendly's is causing a number of local bakers and restaurateurs — a population that is used to getting up before dawn — to lose even more sleep.

Donut Express

"Dunkin' Donuts has been trying to get into Medfield for many years," said Baoling Chang, owner since 1999 of Donut Express & Custom Cakes in Olde Medfield Square.

Chang experienced firsthand the impact of a Dunkin' Donuts on his business two years ago, when a franchise opened inside Precision Automotive at 270 Main St., a stone's throw from his coffee shop at 258 Main St.

"They did take some customers from me, about 10-to-15 percent," Chang said. "A bigger one where Friendly's used to be, with a bigger parking lot, will take even more."

"We have been trying very hard to serve something Dunkin' Donuts does not have," in order to better compete with the coffee shop chain, Chang said.

"We make fine pastries, for a class of customers who want something fresh, something different from Dunkin' Donuts," he said.

Chang noted the franchise chain doesn't make its products on site. "They're made in a factory, for 80 shops, and delivered at night," he said. By the time they reach the customers, he said, "they're day-old donuts."

"We start making our donuts and other bakery products at 4 a.m.," Chang said.

A significant difference between Donut Express and Dunkin' Donuts, Chang said, is the latter's advertising budget, which amounts to 20-to-30 percent of what the customer pays.

"Instead of advertising, we spend that money buying high quality ingredients for our doughnuts and high quality coffee beans," he said. "Customers can taste the difference."

"We also spend that money supporting the local community," he said. "You don't see Dunkin' Donuts in a high school program. They don't care."

In order to better serve his customers, Chang said, he and his family moved to Medfield in 2002.

"To know Medfield, you have to live in Medfield," he said.

From Scratch

Alex Apazidus, owner of From Scratch in Medfield Country Village, is also a Medfield resident, having moved here five years ago.

Like Chang, Apazidus thinks Dunkin' Donuts' large advertising budget gives the chain an unfair advantage over local establishments.

"I'm OK with other businesses opening in the area," he said. "Competition is healthy. But it's such a big chain, and they spend so much in advertising dollars, that it sucks the life out of the competition."

Since From Scratch opened in December 2011, "the town is really responding to us," Apazidus said. "A lot of our customers come to us because a friend was in and recommended us to them, which makes you feel good.

"This is where [Dunkin' Donuts'] advertising makes it hard," he said. "Someone may have just seen a Dunkin' Donuts commercial, and they're going to choose to go in there over someplace they never heard of."

To entice new and returning customers, Apazidus said he was going to continue to focus on what makes From Scratch unique: that it's locally owned, that they use fresh ingredients and that they make everything on the menu to order.

With Medfield Country Village just north of the former Friendly's site on Route 27, Apazidus is deeply concerned about the franchise's impact on traffic.

"It's really going to affect traffic," he said. "I can't even imagine. Cars exiting from the parking lot [onto North Meadows Road] will back up traffic so much that it will block both entrances to the shopping plaza. And if the town lets them make the left onto Route 27 from the parking lot, it'll be even worse."

Apazidus said most of his morning customers — From Scratch opens at 6 a.m. — are truck drivers who see the "Open for breakfast" sign, and people who live close by and are just starting their daily commute to work.

"I'm not worried about missing transients" if a Dunkin' Donuts opens nearby, he said. "I'm worried about people who will avoid the area altogether because of the traffic."

Blue Moon Bagel Cafe

Dan Freedman spoke bluntly when asked about a Dunkin' Donuts coming into the former Friendly's site.

"You mean a second Dunkin' Donuts, a third doughnut shop, in a town of 12,000 people?" he said. "I think it sucks. Dunkin' Donuts has invaded America like a virus."

"I don't think it's going to help Medfield's small town feeling," he said.

Since he opened the Blue Moon Bagel Cafe 17 years ago, Freedman said, he's strived to create "an atmosphere of quality and service."

He criticized the chain for selling products "made 25 hours earlier" with "cheap ingredients."

Blue Moon's location in Shaw's Plaza put it in direct competition with the Dunkin' Donuts nearby in Precision Automotive when it opened two years ago. Freedman said he initially did see a drop in customers. "People have a tendency to try a new thing," he said.

Focusing on quality and customer service helped Blue Moon overcome those losses, he said, and in fact, business is better than ever.

"We make everything from scratch," he said. "We bake with organic flour and serve fair trade organic coffee. We come in at 3 a.m. and make everything fresh every day."

"We're able to do this," he said, "because Blue Moon is owner operated. We're right here.

"This owner who wants to open another shop in Medfield already has over 100 Dunkin' Donut franchises," he said. "He never even goes there."

Honey's

Not all of Medfield's coffee shop owners are in agreement about another coffee shop chain franchise.

"I feel like my business is different from Dunkin' Donuts," said Lee Ann Honey, owner of Honey's on North Street. "My main business is custom cakes. All of our goods are hand-done. We're very different from what they do."

Honey said her bakery, which has minimal seating, includes a big morning crowd that comes in for coffee. She did not think a Dunkin' Donuts at the intersection of Routes 109 and 27 would take any many of her customers, whom she described as "a loyal following."

The additional traffic that a franchise might bring "may have an impact" on the town as a whole, she said. "But I'm not on that corner," she said, "so it won't impact me."

"I wish them all the best," Honey said.

Contact Medfield Press editor Brett M. Rhyne at 781-433-8353 or brett.rhyne@wickedlocal.com; follow this story on Twitter @MedfieldPress and on Facebook.com/Medfield.Press

minatened1977.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/thepress/2012/08/03/local-business-owners-leery-second/39057114007/

Share this post