Downtown Dunkin’ to close this weekend in Bristol

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 10/17/18

Regular patrons of the Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of Hope and State streets were surprised — and dismayed — to see the appearance of a small sign this week announcing the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Downtown Dunkin’ to close this weekend in Bristol

Posted

Regular patrons of the Dunkin’ Donuts at the corner of Hope and State streets were surprised — and dismayed — to see the appearance of a small sign this week announcing the location’s closure, effective this Saturday, Oct. 20.

Opened nearly 15 years ago under a cloud of controversy, the effort to open a franchise of the chain’s all-day fast-food restaurant in a historic building downtown spurred the creation of Preserve Bristol, a citizens group concerned by the national trend of historic streetscapes overtaken by chain retail establishments.

At the time, the Historic District Commission enforced existing regulations, including a ban on interior-lit signage, to force the Dunkin’ Donuts to take a unique approach to its typical store design, especially with regard to its exterior appearance, in order to best fit in with the character of downtown Bristol.

In the wake of the franchise’s opening, members of Preserve Bristol created and lobbied for the successful passage of a formula business ordinance, which defines a formula business as any store, restaurant or hotel that has standardized features that make it substantially identical to more than five other businesses, regardless of ownership or location. The ordinance bans businesses larger than 2,500 square feet or that take up more than 65 feet of street frontage from locating in Bristol’s historic downtown.

The ordinance provides for a case-by-case exception for businesses smaller than 2,500 square feet, which may apply for a special use permit from the zoning board if they can prove that the business will not contribute to the “nationwide trend of standardized downtown offerings,” and “will complement those businesses already in the Historic District and foster the local economic base.”

“We may look back and think this is one of the most important things we’ve done,” said then-Town Councilor Halsey Herreshoff about the passage of the ordinance in 2004.

Though speculation as to the reason for the closure is varied, it seems likely that the downtown location’s dependence on foot traffic and lack of a drive-through are contributing causes. At press time, Joseph Prazeres, who owns multiple local Dunkin’ Donuts franchises, had not responded to a request for comment.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.