East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts shuffle complete

[Copyrighted photo by EV Arrow from July]

As we've been pretty much exclusively reporting, the Dunkin' Donuts at 218 E. 14th St. was moving a few storefronts to the west toward Third Avenue (see above photo).

That move is compete with the Grand Opening of the new (smaller) DD at 208 E. 14th St….



Meanwhile, back at No. 218, workers are dismantling the old DD space… Unfortunately, we were unable to save the Eli Manning "Smoke the Competition" ad for the smoked sausage breakfast sandwich…



This storefront had been for rent at $144 a square foot … the listing notes the space is now off the market.

The Dunkin' Donuts space on East 14th Street is for rent

A "for rent" sign via Ardor/Citi Habitats is now hanging above the Dunkin' Donuts at 218 E. 14th St. near Third Avenue.

According to the listing at LoopNet, the rental rate is $144 per square foot … on the 3,500-square-foot space (1,400 square feet in the basement).

We asked two DD employees if they were moving or closing. They didn't know (based on their non-response).

So moving or closing… it's all happened before in DD land here. Last summer, the Dunkin' Donuts at 520 E. 14th St. moved a storefronts away between Avenue A and Avenue B. That Dunkin' Donuts on Second Avenue between East 10th Street and East 11th Street closed back in January 2010.

Here is your new Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins combo on East 14th Street

Hey, that new Dunkin' Donuts is now open at 542 E. 14th St. just west of Avenue B … and it is one of those combo operations with a Baskin-Robbins. (For those times when you feel like doughnuts and ice cream!)

Meanwhile, the Dunkin' Donuts a few storefronts away at 520 E. 14th St. has closed, as expected.



Be curious to see what awesome new business lands in the old DD space at No. 520. (Gino the tailor was rent hiked out of one of the three storefronts here back in the spring.) This will be prime real estate now that No. 520 is all that stands between the two incoming retail-residential buildings.

No. 542 was the former home of La Isla Restaurant, which closed in July 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dunkin' Donuts moving on East 14th Street

Here is your East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts plywood

Here is your East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts plywood

The plywood is up outside part of 542 E. 14th St., where workers are carving out space for a new Dunkin' Donuts.

A tipster told us back in May that the Dunkin' Donuts several storefronts away at 520 E. 14th St. will move here.

No. 542 is the former home of La Isla Restaurant, which closed in July 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dunkin' Donuts moving on East 14th Street

Hey, the new Dunkin' Donuts is now open on Cooper Square

The one at the former Norman's Sound & Vision space at 67 Cooper Square opened Saturday. The official Grand Opening is today.

Previously on EV Grieve:
But of course!: Former Norman's Sound & Vision space becoming a Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts-branded door handle arrives on Cooper Square

The Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo is back, better than ever, or exactly the same

After a fews weeks of renovations, the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins in the Shoppes at Red Square on East Houston between Avenue A and Avenue B is back in action...

Saturday!



Sunday!

The Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo is (almost) alive and well on East Houston

Things had been grim (grim I tell you!) the last two weeks here in the Shoppes at Red Square on East Houston between Avenue A and Avenue B … the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo had been "closed for renovations," looking suspiciously on the gutted side.

But!

On Wednesday night, an EVG reader got a look inside, and reported actual renovations taking place… and last night? New bright signage action.



The place looks close to being operational again. So put away those teary farewell signs!

Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo remains closed for renovations on East Houston

The Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo located in the Shoppes at Red Square on East Houston between Avenue A and Avenue B remains closed for renovations. The doughnut/ice cream dispensary has been closed since Dec. 2. (BoweryBoogie noted this on Monday.) Signs on the door point to a reopening yesterday.

However, as these photos by an EVG reader from last evening show, work remains on the space, which looks suspiciously gutted…





While it wouldn't be the first time a Dunkin' Donuts closed around here, the reader who spotted the above work yesterday noted that it looked more like an upgrade than a demolition….

How Dunkin' Donuts could ruin your morning

Sausage pancake bites at Dunkin' Donuts, photographed on Sixth Street and First Avenue.

Wild palms and pizza

Earlier today, we noted that Pomodoro Pizza will be opening this weekend in part of the former Dunkin' Donuts space on Second Avenue...

Well, the weekend must mean today: It's now open for business... Just look for the palm trees...

Pomodora Pizza coming this weekend

As Jeremiah first reported, a pizza place is taking over part of the former Dunkin' Donuts space on Second Avenue... signs are up... and the place is expected to be open for the weekend with sidewalk seating...



...with sidewalk seating...

Dunkin' Donuts celebrates 60th birthday with Donut Cake

Holy donut holes! I had no idea that it was Dunkin' Donuts 60th birthday! I didn't buy a gift! And look! The DD brass celebrated with a Donut Cake!



I will now go celebrate with a cup of coffee and some fries from Ray's...

[Donut cake via]

Noted

Did you read about Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s first day on the job yesterday? Per the Times:

The first indictment of Mr. Vance’s tenure as the Manhattan district attorney was of a pair of teenagers accused of swiping a brown handbag from a woman leaving a Dunkin’ Donuts in the East Village, according to court documents.

The article didn't mention which DD this happened at...

[Image via]

Where donuts were once served, a grocery store opens

From the Department of That Was Really *&%$##@@* Fast... The corpse of Dunkin' Donuts is still warm and, possibly, a little glazey...and on Second Avenue, the first of the two shops have opened in DD's old space... a deli/grocery...




Jeremiah first had the news of DD's split future... Meanwhile, some folks are still in mourning... from Let's Do This Instead (via Eater):

It would sound strange that I’d think the biggest loss in the East Village would be a Dunkie’s. But the one on Second Ave. between 10th and 11th was one of the nicest neighborhood amenities ever. Where else could you sit on the sidewalk with free wifi, or at a counter by their picture windows in winter, and look out onto one of the oldest buildings in New York City, St. Mark’s Church (built in 1799, and just imagine everything it has seen grow up around it for over two centuries).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dunkin' Donuts closes on Second Avenue; only 428 left in NYC

Dunkin' Donuts Week in Review

Chopping Dunkin' Donuts in half

As Jeremiah reported last Thursday, the former Dunkin' Donuts on Second Avenue near 11th Street is becoming... "two stores--an independently owned pizzeria and grocery store with cold food. No chains."

And the store has already been cut in half...



Given how long some storefronts sit empty, it's amazing how quickly the landlord turned over this property....

Dunkin' Donuts week in review

Monday:



Wednesday:


[Photo by Melanie!]

Thursday:



Related:
From the Post today: "Since the city began compelling restaurant chains to post calorie information, coffee drinkers have proved likelier to get their java from a Starbucks than from the Dunkin' Donuts down the street. A Stanford University study found drink revenues up 5 percent at Starbucks stores within 100 yards of Dunkin' Donuts since health officials made it mandatory that menus include nutritional data."

Someone already REALLY misses the Second Avenue Dunkin' Donuts

Our friend Melanie, who always finds great shots in the neighborhood, took this photo in front of the now-shuttered Dunkin' Donuts on Second Avenue....

For more:
East Village Corner: Musings by Melanie

Previously.

Dunkin' Donuts is really dead on Second Avenue

After inexplicably speculating this morning about the future of the Dunkin' Donuts on Second Avenue (as in, is it really closed?), a well-informed reader reports the following:

This location is closed due to extremely high rent and tax. In the future, landlord is planning to split this store, to make more money….

As Esquared said below in the comments:

...even a chain store can't afford the rent in the ev anymore...

The Dunkin' Donuts watch has begun....Day 4 (or 5, or maybe 3); and welcome Tim Hortons to the neighborhood?

Swung by last night for any signs of life...



Meanwhile, while flipping through back copies of Nation's Restaurant News, I found this article from July...

The Riese Organization, a longtime multi-concept franchisee in New York City, is converting all 13 of its Dunkin’ Donuts stores to the Tim Hortons brand, president and chief executive Dennis Riese said Wednesday.

Riese said he plans to close the Dunkin’ locations on Friday and reopen the stores July 13 under the Tim Hortons banner. Riese and Dunkin’ had come to an agreement about five years ago that required the termination of a franchise partnership by July 31.

Riese operates about 80 restaurants in New York City under the T.G.I. Friday’s, Houlihan’s, Pizza Hut and KFC brands. Its proprietary concepts include Charley O’s, Tads Steaks, Nedicks and Lindy’s.

Tim Hortons, based in Canada, has been making a push to open more stores in the New York metro area. Most recently, the chain opened three co-branded restaurants in midtown Manhattan in partnership with premium ice-cream chain Coldstone Creamery.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Dunkin’ Donuts, a chain of about 8,800 locations worldwide, has 454 units located in the New York City area. It is owned by franchisor Dunkin’ Brands Inc., which is based in Canton, Mass.

“Notwithstanding the disenfranchisement of the Riese organization, Dunkin Donuts presence in Manhattan and throughout New York City continues to expand,” franchisor Dunkin’ said in its statement. “In the past five years, 244 new Dunkin’ Donuts shops have opened in New York City, and we intend to continue this pattern of growth as opportunities arise.”

Expand? How many more do we need?

Anyway, so I guess the Second Avenue DD will become a Tim Hortons soon...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dunkin' Donuts closes on Second Avenue; only 428 left in NYC

Dunkin' Donuts closes on Second Avenue; only 428 left in NYC

Several readers have noted the closure of Dunkin' Donuts on Second Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. Serving up Double Chocolate Cake Donuts one day, windows papered up the next. Perhaps it's just a renovation, though you'd think they'd put up a sign or something...



Of course, Dunkin' Donuts is the most dominant (prominent?) chain in NYC with 429 locations, according to the last report by the Center for an Urban Future. This includes two locations right near the Second Avenue spot...First Avenue (below) and 14th Street...




All this reminds me of this fellow below who apparently really liked Dunkin' Donuts...taking the time to memorialize it in paint...