Dunkin’ plans second store in Clinton
This building at 323-325 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd. will soon be demolished to make way for a second Dunkin’ dough- nut and coffee shop in Clinton. The building recently housed a chiropractic clinic, and previously was also the site of a nutrition store and Hamock’s Perkadeli restaurant. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
James R. “Jim” Horton, who owned the building at 323-325 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., said his sale of the property to Knoxville-based Dunkin’ franchisee Bluemont Group LLC. was completed on Sept. 17.
While officials of Bluemont could not be reached for comment on Monday, Horton said the company plans to remove the entire 4,950 square-foot building now on the site and construct a new one to house the Dunkin’ restaurant.
Anderson County Family Chiropractic, the only remaining tenant, closed its doors on Aug. 27, announcing on its website that Dr. Jaqueline Berk “is retiring because the building is being demolished.”
No demolition or construction permit had yet been issued for the building, Clinton city officials said Monday, and no plans for the new facility had yet been submitted to the Clinton Planning Commission for approval.
Besides the chiropractic clinic, the building previously housed the Natural Energy Nutrition Center, which moved to a new location at 752 S. Charles Seivers Blvd. in January 2023; and Hamock’s Perkadeli, which closed in 2022.
“We were in that building for 32 years,” said Jacob Jobe at Natural Energy Nutrition Center.
“My mom, Janice Jobe, moved her business there in 1990, and I grew up in there.”
The business itself just celebrated its 45th anniversary, he added.
Jobe said his family’s goal was to own their building, and they saw an opportunity to do so at their new location.
Horton, who has owned a Clinton real estate brokerage and now owns and manages mobile home parks, said he had “wanted to keep” the site that will soon hold the new Dunkin’.
“But the building was going to need a major remodel, and the chiropractor didn’t want to buy it or sign a long-term lease,” he said. “I was afraid to invest the money to reposition it.”
He said AutoZone “had the property under contract for six months,” but ultimately chose not to buy it because lot restrictions would have limited the size of a new building to 5,000 square feet.
“They needed at least a 6,000 square-foot building,” Horton said.
Berk, in the meantime, has taken at least temporary retirement from her chiropractic duties, although her husband and partner, Dr. J. Brad Farmer, continues to practice in his Morgan County Chiropractic office in Wartburg. Berg met Farmer while the two were students at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa.
No timetable has been announced yet for the demolition of the old building and construction and opening of the new Dunkin. Its opening is not expected to affect operation of the other Clinton Dunkin’ just off Interstate 75 at Exit 122.
Formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts, the parent company was founded in 1950 in Massachusetts. Today, there are more than 13,200 Dunkin’ restaurants in nearly 40 global markets.
Dunkin’ is part of the Inspire Brands family of restaurants, which also includes Arby’s, Sonic, Jimmy John’s, Baskin-Robbins, and Buffalo Wild Wings.