We visited Dunkin' Donuts' 'store of the future' in NYC - here's what it was like

Jessica TylerAug 30, 2018, 19:55 IST

Business Insider/Jessica Tyler

Dunkin' Donuts is slowly rolling out its "store of the future" experience.
The first part of the rebrand to be rolled out was a name change. The name change is being tested at 30 locations in Boston and 20 nationwide.
The Dunkin' concept is part of a major rebrand that includes a new store design, drinks like nitro infused cold brew, and digital kiosks to order at, and is currently being rolled out as a test.
We visited a newly remodeled Dunkin' store and tried some drinks from the new tap system - here's what it was like.

Dunkin' Donuts is slowly rolling out its "store of the future" experience.

The first part of the rebrand to be rolled out was a name change. The Massachusetts-based coffee empire began testing the name Dunkin' - without the Donuts - at a handful of Massachusetts locations late last year, according to Eater. Now, the name change is being tested at 30 locations in Boston and 20 nationwide.

The Dunkin' concept is part of a major rebrand that includes a new store design, drinks like nitro infused cold brew, and digital kiosks to order at. The first Dunkin' concept was opened at a Quincy, Massachusetts, location in late 2017, and is bring rolled out nationwide.

The Dunkin' concept isn't necessarily a permanent change - while it will be rolling out to about 50 stores, Dunkin' Donuts said in a statement that it doesn't plan to make any decisions regarding the branding until later this year.

We visited one of the new Dunkin' stores in NYC. Here's what it was like:

See We visited Dunkin' Donuts' 'store of the future' in NYC - here's what it was like >>

The remodeled Dunkin' store we went to was in Times Square.

Like the other remodeled stores, the sign only said Dunkin', not Dunkin' Donuts.

The Dunkin' was small, and the only hint of pink or orange was on the logo. The design was much more minimalistic than Dunkin's current stores. At some of the remodeled locations, there will be digital ordering kiosks in addition to cashiers.

This particular location was pretty small, and had a lot of similarities to the older Dunkin' stores, including the menu and food displays.

There were only a few seats in the Dunkin', but almost all of them were full.

One of the biggest changes that's rolling out in the Dunkin' remodel test is the addition of a cold drink tap system.

The cold drinks on tap include nitro cold brew, cold brew, original blend coffee, dark roast coffee, decaf, green tea, and iced tea.

I tried two different drinks from the cold beverage tap — the cold brew and the nitro cold brew.

The cold brew was great — it didn't taste bitter, but still was very strong. It was ice cold and super refreshing.

The nitro cold brew had a similar taste, but was a little more bitter. It also wasn't as cold as the regular cold brew, which was disappointing.

Besides the name change and new cold beverage tap system, the changes were pretty minimal, and may not last forever. The new Dunkin' concept will be slowly rolling out as a test to about 50 locations nationwide soon.

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