Mashpee, Massachusetts, Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — William
Rosenberg, founder of the worldwide chain Dunkin’ Donuts, died
Friday of bladder cancer at his Cape Cod home in Mashpee,
Massachusetts, Associated Press reported, citing the company.
He was 86.
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In the 1940s, Rosenberg used $1,500 in war bonds and borrowed
$1,000 to start his business, which served coffee, pastries and
sandwiches to factory workers, the AP reported. In 1948, he opened
the Open Kettle in Quincy, Massachusetts, which was his first
coffee-and-doughnut shop. The name was changed two years later to
Dunkin’ Donuts. Instead of selling four varieties of doughnut, as
was typical then, Rosenberg sold 52 types, AP said.
Today, there are about 5,000 locations worldwide.
In 1955, Rosenberg began selling franchises to people,
beginning in Worcester, Massachusetts, the wire service said. U.K.-
based Allied Domecq Plc, the world’s second-biggest liquor company
and owner of Baskin-Robbins ice cream and Togo’s sandwich chains,
acquired Dunkin’ Donuts in 1990.
