First Franchise On The Way

Dunkin' Donuts to take Wildberry Bagel's place

NEW LONDON (Saturday, March 25, 2006) - This spring, Dunkin' Donuts will open New London's first national chain restaurant. According to a company spokesman, the shop is expected to open in late April or early May at the site of the current Wildberry Bagel Company, a fixture in town for a decade.

Nick Karagianis, Wildberry's owner, said he was already thinking about closing when he learned that there was another tenant interested in the site. He will close his doors once the details of the deal between his landlord and the doughnut franchise are ironed out, he said.

Plans for the renovation of the building have already been cleared by town officials. During a meeting this month, the town determined that because the design for the Dunkin' Donuts shop did not involve changing the structure of the building, the owners could proceed with a renovation without a site plan or extended review.

"They've met the town's requirements and they had pretty well developed plans," said Jessie Levine, New London's town administrator.

The plan presented to town officials called for modest changes to the small purple building's appearance. Signs would be lit from the inside of the store, parking would be in the rear, and there would be no drive-through window.

"The franchisee is really intent upon making sure that the Dunkin'Donuts really fits into the community there," said Andrew Mastrangelo, a spokesman for Dunkin'Donuts. "The renovations are going to make it look like a Dunkin' Donuts, but they're not going to make a lot of changes to the building."
Mastrangelo said that the business would be owned by two families that already run other Dunkin'Donuts shops in the area. One partner owns a shop in Manchester; the other owns one on Cape Cod.

Not all the details of the lease have been worked out, according to Barry Wright, who owns the building.

"At this point, we're in negotiations," he said.

For the time being, Wildberry, which has been serving bagels, sandwiches and cookies for a decade, will continue to operate. Karagianis said he wants to take a break to spend time with his young family and plans to ultimately move his business to into a larger site nearby where he could broaden his menu.

"This is an opportunity in my life," he said "In due time - I don't have a timeframe - I'd certainly like to be back bigger and better."

Karagianis said that he's spoken to his employees about the change and has started talking to his customers, more than one of whom shed tears over his closing.

"Without question, I have definitely the best customers anywhere," he said.

New London is home to a few regional chains: it has a Pizza Chef restaurant, a Hannaford's supermarket, and a branch office of Lake Sunapee Bank, but the store would mark the first appearance of a national chain restaurant in the town.

"For years, people had a rumor that the town didn't accept chain restaurants," Levine said. "But for years, I said that's not in our zoning ordinance."

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