Southeast Enterprise Holdings, a subsidiary of Naples, Fla.-based Askar Brands, on Tuesday said it has acquired 47 Dunkin’ locations in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach markets.
George McAllan, a former vice president of international operations for Dunkin’, will be Southeast’s CEO.
In addition to the 47 locations, Askar has agreed to develop locations in Broward and Dade counties over the next five years.
McAllan called South Florida “a significant growth market” for Dunkin’. “Our focus for the near future will be on improving our stores’ customer service and processes, along with remodeling with the new Dunkin’ footprint, as well as establishing new restaurants in the marketplace,” he said in a statement.
Dunkin’, like many other legacy franchised brands, is undergoing a massive shift in its operator base, particularly as the company prepares a program to remodel its more than 9,000 U.S. locations, all of which are franchisee-owned.
In Askar Brands, it also gets the type of operator many franchisors covet: a large-scale, multibrand franchisee.
Askar already operates 45 Church’s Chicken locations along with several other brands, including Blackjack Pizza, Papa Romano’s Pizza, Mr. Pita and CJ’s Brewing Co., among others.
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