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With a slew of independent coffee shops and plenty of chain stores, you might think Minnesotans are a bit over-caffeinated.

Dunkin' Donuts doesn't think so. The Massachusetts-based chain is moving west and opening what the company says will be dozens of stores in Minnesota.

The company is methodically filling in geographic gaps, said Patrick Cunningham, senior director of franchising at Dunkin' Brands, Inc. 

"As you open stores in a market, convenience is very important. Convenience builds loyalty," he said. 

Dunkins are also popping up in central and western Wisconsin, providing a link between the Chicago and Twin Cities markets.

In its home territory of the Northeast, the chain has achieved something akin to cult status.

It already has loyal customers like Dan Borchardt flocking to a new store in Roseville. 

"I drove 35 miles just to come here. These guys pretty much just do coffee but they nail it," said Borchardt, who acquired a love of Dunkin's coffee during family road trips east.

While Dunkin' Donuts doesn't have the word coffee in its name, java is the heart of its business — more than half the chain's revenue comes from coffee.

But there are some people who apparently have no interest in what Dunkin' is brewing. 

Just a few hundred feet away from the new Roseville Dunkin' sits J. Arthur's Coffee, an independent shop with a fireplace and board games that encourage customers to linger awhile. 

J. Arthur's manager Michael McLouth said the nearby Dunkin hasn't made a dent is his business so far.

"A lot of people, will go over there to grab doughnuts and come over here and grab a cup of coffee and sit down," McLouth said. "If they're coming over here and getting a cup of coffee, I'm OK with that."

The so-called third-wave coffee shops like McLouth's treat coffee with the same reverence given fine wine and craft beers. That applies to the harvesting, roasting and brewing of the bean.

"We're trying to give our customers the absolute best out of the bean that we have," McLouth said.

But Dunkin' argues it does that too. The company boasts that its drip coffee is made fresh every 18 minutes. Anything older gets dumped.

Steve Silberfarb, one of Dunkin's Minnesota franchisees, expects Minnesota's affection for the chain will mirror that of the nation — which guzzles more than 1.7 billion cups a year at Dunkin's U.S. shops.

"Dunkin' has one of the most popular coffee flavor profiles in the world. Certainly in the United States," he said. "People love the coffee."

Dunkin' has four shops Twin Cities open now and it plans to open more than 30 in the next few years.

A few decades ago, Dunkin' had some stores in Minnesota. But the company says there weren't enough of them to establish a critical mass and grow the brand. 

Now, Dunkin' says there'll be enough Minnesota stores to gain traction.

R.J. Hottovy, a restaurant analyst with the investment research firm Morningstar, thinks there's plenty more room for more coffee shops.

Americans spend tens of billions of dollars annually on coffee away from home, he said, and their tastes and loyalties vary.

Starbucks caters to more affluent audiences, Dunkin' and Caribou sit in the middle, and McDonald's and convenience stores serve up the cheapest coffee, Hottovy said. 

In the past decade the number of U.S. specialty coffee shops has jumped 50 percent to about 31,000, according to the 

Americans have shown an increasing thirst for the more expensive stuff: More than one-third of adults 18 to 39 years old report they drink gourmet coffee regularly.

While it'll be a few years before we'll know if Minnesota runs on Dunkin', Hottovy said he expects the chain will succeed here. 

"With the industry growing as it has and with consumer demand fueling that," he said, "there is room for multiple players."

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The Massachusetts-based coffee and doughnut chain is planning to open dozens of stores in the state as it expands westward.

Will Minnesota start running on Dunkin'?

Evan Frost | MPR News

Coffee is served inside J. Arthur's Coffee

Will Minnesota start running on Dunkin'?

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