Donuts, and bakery products in general, took a nosedive in popularity in the 80s and 90s or so, as people became more health conscious. It's been an industry-wide problem. Health concerns weren't the only thing, businesses became very expensive to run as rent and utility costs rose - all for a product that traditionally didn't yield very high profit. Costs of ingredients also skyrocketed. Little by little, many older bakeries closed. Many donut shops went out of business for the same reasons.
Then there was a resurgence in the 2000s as Food Network shows created a big interest in more high-end cakes and pastries. Newer style bakeries opened up and started charging $5 for a cupcake instead of $1. And cakes became not only tasty treats, but works of art, commanding oftentimes very high prices. Nicely decorated cookies can now cost $3-4 each, which would've been unheard of years ago! It's all quite different than it used to be, in a lot of ways. When you walk into a bakery, shelves should be robust and full, consistently, with a variety of fresh products for sale. Instead, what we often see now is a generally just a few products, which may be old or previously frozen, shelves half full and sometimes whole cases empty. (If you still have a great bakery nearby, consider yourself lucky!)
As for donuts, it's hard to find a good Mom and Pop donut type shop that still makes their own donuts. And pretty much nobody makes them completely from scratch anymore - donut mixes are used. There are a few reasons for this, cost and consistency being among the biggest. It would take a lot of manpower to keep the right amount of all the other ingredients needed, on hand, all the time. (Inevitably, something would be missing!) Instead, bags of mix come in and they're easier to streamline.
Consistency in baked goods is huge, especially in a chain. You should be able to go to any store in the same chain get a product that tastes the same no matter where you go. This is why they often make things in a central location now, plus it streamlines their costs for labor and equipment, which can be astronomical today. Some of the machines can easily cost $50K - and they break a lot. Repair costs are high and there aren't a lot of people left who do them so a problem can cause loss of production for days.
Anyway, back to Dunkin Donuts.
This is an interesting timeline of photos and milestones if anyone's interested.
http://archive.boston.com/business/gallery/dunkin_donuts_history/
More detailed:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkin'_Donuts
Highlights:
1948 - "Open Kettle" doughnut restaurant opens in Quincy, MA
1950 - Renamed "Dunkin Donuts"
1955 - First franchise in Worcester, MA
1963 - 100th franchise opened
1972 - Munchkins added
1978 - Muffins added
1979 - 1000th franchise
1982 - Fred the Baker campaign, "Time to Make the Donuts"
1990 - 2000th franchise; aquired "Mister Donut" chain
1992 - 3000th franchise (Wow!)
1996 - Bagels added
1997 - Breakfast sandwiches added
2004-2006 -New company headquarters in Canton, MA, "America Runs on Dunkin" campaign, company acquired by consortium of private equity firms, becoming "Dunkin Brands"
Thereafter exponential growth, now over 12,000 restaurants in 36 countries
Hmmm. A lot going on there! I wonder if some of the quality suffered with some of the growth? I have a friend who worked for DD corporate for many years and wound up leaving because it became too unpleasant. I've known a lot of companies where that has happened.
Personally, I think they added too many products, and should've just stuck with a few, but done them really well. Maybe they'll go back to that during their restructuring/renaming process. But it sounds like there are literally a lot of cooks in the kitchen now. We shall see what happens.
Just an aside looking at that Krispy Kreme photo. We had a couple of KKs around here but they didn't do well and most closed, I believe. I think you can still get the donuts at some supermarkets and maybe gas stations or something, but I don't know where they come from. The last time I bought them was in FL last spring when we bought a couple dozen for DS's condo when he was playing baseball down there. I'll do the same this year. I might even get a honeydipped myself.
(And in college, my friends used to make fun of my car because I always had a bunch of old DD cups on the floor in the back seat, lol. Which is probably why they now have those big tunneled trash cans before and after their drive thrus.)
On my way to work I MUST get a Dunkies - maybe hot, maybe iced, depending on what mood I'm in - and everyone else comes into work with a Dunkies, as well. DD sometimes gets the foo-foo drinks as we call them, but for the most part, I think most people I know get their regular version of coffee. And DS, for some odd reason, loves the bagel sandwiches. (To me they're kind of gross. His college car is rivaling mine!)
