Developer delays new Dunkin’ until at least 2027
This sign went up in early January marking the location of the new Dunkin’ shop coming to South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton. But it has since been removed, and the project has been delayed at least until sometime next year. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
This comes after they put up a banner in front of the proposed new location in early January, saying “Dunkin’ Coming Soon.”
The building on the site at 323-325 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., which previously housed a chiropractic clinic, nutrition center and Hamock’s Perkadeli restaurant, was reported in fall 2024 to be scheduled for demolition to make way for the Dunkin’ shop.
But no demolition has taken place yet, and the building remains empty.
The banner also has since been removed, and a spokeswoman for the area Dunkin’ franchisee, the Bluemont Group LLC., based in Knoxville, gave The Courier News the update late last week on the proposed new store.
She said the project had been delayed until at least next year as the company focuses on opening an additional Dunkin’ in another area outside Anderson County.
When the banner was put up in front of the proposed location in January, that was already more than a year after the preliminary plans were initially revealed about construction of a new Dunkin’ coffee and doughnut shop.
Plans were to have the new shop open later this year, Margo Hughes, executive director of business services for Bluemont, said in January right after the banner was put up.
“We’re in the design stage, and we’re not looking to open until the fourth quarter, depending on how the weather goes,” she said at the time.
“We’re excited about opening on that side of town. We’re looking forward to serving that part of the community.”
Clinton city officials said Bluemont has yet to file any documents with the city’s Planning Commission, and no building permits have been sought.
Bluemont Group already owns and operates the Dunkin’ location at 2303 N. Charles G. Seivers Blvd. in Clinton, but not the new Dunkin’ kiosk that opened earlier this year inside the Clinton Walmart.
James R. “Jim” Horton, who owned the building at 323-325 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., said his sale of the property to Bluemont Group was completed on Sept. 17, 2024.
Horton said in November 2024 that Bluemont planned to remove the entire 4,950 square-foot building now on the site and construct a new one for the Dunkin’ shop.
Anderson County Family Chiropractic, the last tenant, closed its doors on Aug. 27, 2024, announcing on its website that Dr. Jaqueline Berk was “retiring because the building is being demolished.”
Dunkin’, formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts, was founded in 1950 in Massachusetts. Today, there are more than 13,200 Dunkin’ restaurants in nearly 40 global markets.
The focus has long been more on its coffee than its doughnuts, which led to the name change.
