Dunkin' Donuts Enters Lodging Market With Opening Of New Store At Great Wolf Lodge

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April 14, 2009 // Franchising.com // Canton, MA -- Hotel guests no longer need to have any reservations about where to get a great cup of coffee or delicious breakfast sandwich. Dunkin' Donuts, America's all day, every day stop for coffee and baked goods, has entered the lodging market with the opening of the brand's first hotel restaurant location at the Great Wolf Lodge® in Concord, North Carolina, one of North America's largest indoor water park resorts.

Dunkin' Donuts is offering a variety of store models to suit any lodging property, including full retail shops, kiosks and self-serve hot coffee stations perfect for gift shops and general stores. Models can be designed to suit specific areas such as snack bars and convention registration areas. Dunkin' Donuts' bakery products can be prepared in the property's own kitchen, with the addition of some simple equipment, allowing the food and beverage team flexibility to manage product inventory in accordance with guest traffic.

Chris Burr, Dunkin' Donuts Director of Alternate Points of Distribution and a 20-year veteran of the lodging industry, will lead the development efforts. Dunkin' Donuts will focus initially on larger airport hotels, resorts and vacation ownership locations throughout the East, Midwest and Southwest portions of the country.

The new Dunkin' Donuts at Great Wolf Lodge, accessible to guests from the resort's lobby, will serve Dunkin' Donuts' full menu of delicious foods and beverages that can be enjoyed all throughout the day, including:

A full range of hot and cold coffee and espresso beverages
Oven Toasted breakfast sandwiches
Baked goods, including a variety of freshly made donuts, muffins, danish, and croissants.
Foods and beverages from Dunkin's DDSMART menu of better-for-you items, including two varieties of egg white flatbread sandwiches

According to Kevin Houser, Dunkin' Donuts' Vice President of Development, Dunkin' Donuts is offering Great Wolf Lodge and other lodging properties the opportunity to offer a valuable amenity that greatly enhances the quality of their guests' experience. "Millions of Americans rely on our world-famous coffee to keep themselves running. By adding Dunkin' Donuts, hotels and resorts not only provide an improved alternative to the usual retail coffee concepts currently offered in lodging properties, they allow travelers to continue to enjoy an important part of their daily lives even when they are away from home," he said.

"We are thrilled to announce our Dunkin' Donuts partnership with the debut of our newest Great Wolf Lodge," said Marion Edwards, Corporate Director, Food & Beverage Experience and Concept Division of Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.®. "The indulgent aroma of freshly baked donuts and bagels straight from the oven coincides with our mission to serve our guests with a sensory food experience." Edwards added that parents can rest assured they won't have to break their coffee routine while on vacation at Great Wolf Lodge.

The launch into the lodging market coincides with Dunkin' Donuts' worldwide expansion program. The company is steadily and strategically expanding in existing cities while entering new markets throughout the country, including Phoenix, Minneapolis and St. Louis. Dunkin' Donuts also opened its first store in mainland China, in Shanghai in January. Additionally, Dunkin' Donuts launched the brand's first-ever theme park restaurant at Hershey Park, new coffee kiosks at sporting venues such as Fenway Park and the TD Banknorth (Boston) Garden, and new stores at airports including Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth and New York City.

Dunkin' Donuts has set the standard for offering a superior grade of coffee, and the company sells more than one billion cups of hot and iced coffee every year. In 2008, an independent taste test showed that Americans preferred Dunkin' Donuts coffee over Starbucks. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for three years running.

About Dunkin' Donuts

Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite every day, all-day stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories, and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for three years running. The company has more than 8,800 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide. In 2008, Dunkin' Donuts' global system-wide sales were $5.5 billion. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands, Inc.

About Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.® (NASDAQ: WOLF), Madison, Wis., is North America's largest family of indoor waterpark resorts, and, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge® and Blue Harbor Resort™ brands. Great Wolf Resorts is a fully integrated resort company with Great Wolf Lodge locations in: Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Williamsburg, Va.; the Pocono Mountains, Pa.; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, Texas; Grand Mound, Wash.; Concord, N.C.; and Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center in Sheboygan, Wis.

The company's resorts are family-oriented destination facilities that generally feature 300 - 600 rooms and a large indoor entertainment area measuring 40,000 - 100,000 square feet. The all-suite properties offer a variety of room styles, arcade/game rooms, fitness rooms, themed restaurants, spas, supervised children's activities and other amenities.

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