Dunkin' Donuts Signs Its First California Franchisees

If you live in California and have been pining for a Dunkin' Donuts to call your own, your dream may not be too far off from coming to fruition.

Nation's Restaurant News is reporting that Dunkin' Brands Group, which owns Dunkin' Donuts as well as Baskin-Robbins, has signed three franchisees in the Southern California area, and 44 new units will be opening there starting in 2015. And by the end of the year, an outpost will be open at the Route 66 travel center.

Dunkin' Donuts has historically been an East Coast-only brand, but thanks to the opening of a distribution center in Phoenix last fall they're now able to expand from sea to shining sea. With as many as 1,000 Dunkin' Donuts locations planned for Southern California, the company will continue to rake in the money: the company reported last week that its profits more than doubled in the year's second quarter, largely due to sales of their cold beverages and breakfast and lunch items, including the turkey sausage breakfast sandwich and tuna and chicken salad sandwiches.