Buffalo News:
The largest local franchisee for Dunkin’ Donuts has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and will close four area stores and a baking facility as it restructures.
Kainos Partners Holding Co. will continue to operate 13 stores in the Buffalo Niagara region after the four locations are shut down this weekend, said Bart Thorne, its president and chief operating officer.
The stores that will close are: inside the Boulevard Mall; at a Delta Sonic at 1355 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Amherst, near the Boulevard Mall; 5090 Genesee St. in Cheektowaga, west of Transit Road; and 3650 Broadway in Cheektowaga, between Union and Dick roads. Saturday will be the last day of business for each location.
“For whatever reason, those sites weren’t accepted well,†he said.
Thorne said Kainos wants to transfer as many of the affected employees as possible into stores that will remain open.
Meanwhile, its doughnut-making operation on Broadway, which employs 78 people, will close in three to four months. New technology will allow stores to make doughnuts on site, Thorne said. The franchisee hopes to move displaced workers from the site into new jobs, as well.
