Free Republic

Subway on Thursday ended its drawn-out auction to sell the family-owned sandwich chain by agreeing to a $9.6 billion deal with the private equity firm that owns Dunkin’ Brands. The sale to Roark Capital, which also backs several other fast-food chains through its restaurant conglomerate Inspire Brands, brings to close an era during which Subway was owned by its two founding families for more than 50 years. “The transaction is a major milestone in Subway’s multi-year transformation journey, combining Subway’s global presence and brand strength with Roark’s deep expertise in restaurant and franchise business models,” Subway said in a statement....

Former Florida Dunkin’ manager Corey Pujos, 27, accused of fatally punching an elderly customer who called him the “‘n-word,” was given two years of house arrest as part of a plea deal. Pujos will undergo three years of probation following house arrest, must attend an anger management course, and must complete 200 hours of community service. He was initially charged with aggravated manslaughter before cutting a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge in exchange for the sentence. The incident occurred last year after 77-year-old Vonelle Cook went through the drive-thru at the Dunkin’ located at...

A man accused of throwing a hot coffee at a customer at a Brookline Dunkin’ after allegedly becoming upset the person wasn’t wearing a mask, has been ordered to stay away from the business and to undergo a mental health evaluation. Police responded to an altercation at the Dunkin’ at 8 Harvard St. in Brookline after a man allegedly threw hot coffee toward a fellow customer for not wearing a mask in the store, court documents show. The suspect was arraigned in Brookline District Court Thursday afternoon. The man, identified as 23-year-old Dion Millsap of Dorchester, had allegedly been standing...

A Vineland man has sued an employee and manager of a local Dunkin’ Donuts after he says he was burned by a cup of coffee that spilled on his lap last year while he was going through the restaurant’s drive-thru, according to the suit filed earlier this year. The man, Leonard Allen, is also suing Dunkin’ Donuts Inc., in addition to the manager and employee of the Vineland coffee shop located at 709 E. Chestnut Ave. The incident happened on Aug. 25 when an unnamed female employee “without any due caution” served him a “scalding hot” medium coffee “in a...

If you've been spending time all snug in your bed, with visions of sugarplums dancing in your head, you're in luck -- Dunkin has announced a new drink called Sugarplum Macchiato. Just in time for the holidays, the hot or iced drink features bright berry flavors of blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and plum. RELATED | McRib returns to Las Vegas According to Jill Nelson, Vice President, Marketing Strategy at Dunkin’, “Our Sugarplum Macchiato is a colorful twist on a well-known, but perhaps mysterious-tasting, flavor of holiday lore. It’s the perfect complement to our fan-favorite holiday latte lineup and brings even more...

Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company of the Dunkin’ and Baskin Robbins chains, has held "preliminary discussions to be acquired by Inspire Brands," FOX Business has confirmed. Dunkin' Brands Chief Communications Officer Karen Raskopf noted that there is "no certainty that any agreement will be reached" and that neither group will comment further until a transaction is agreed upon. A spokesperson for Inspire Brands declined to comment on rumors around potential acquisition targets. The potential deal, valued at roughly $8.8 billion, would take Dunkin’ Brands private at a price of $106.50 per share, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told...

Every iconic franchise began somewhere. Every one started with a single store opening its doors to a public that had never heard of it and didn’t know what to expect. These entrepreneurs had no idea what they were launching—and no inkling that their concept would take the world by storm. What did these original outlets look like? What do they look like now? Some of the world’s biggest chains have preserved their first stores so customers can get a look.

Let's face it – 2015 was a pretty bad year, all things considered. The United States of America, and indeed the whole world, became poorer, more corrupt, less stable, and less free as a result of the actions of a relatively small number of people. While there are many, many people who could be included in a list of the "worst people in politics" because of their systematic badness, these are a few especially reprehensible individuals who have gone above and beyond in the effort to make our country and the world an appalling place for those who actually care...

Recent events have not been kind to the radical homosexual lobby and its efforts to impose "homo-normalization" onto America. For years, Big Gay has given the appearance of being an unstoppable juggernaut as it rolled from one court victory to the next, leaving behind it a wreckage of ruined lives of people who had the temerity to not show enough deference to the gay agenda. Yet, there are a few recent signs that this might be changing. It brings up the question, "Are average, everyday Americans finally tired enough of being bullied, hectored, accused, attacked, shouted at, threatened, and otherwise...

One of the world’s leading human rights groups is upset over a new “bizarre and racist” donut ad airing in Thailand claiming Americans would “howl” with outrage if we saw it. Which we won’t because Dunkin’ Donuts Thailand and America are separate organizations. Dunkin’ Donuts in Thailand has launched a new ad for its “Charcoal Donut” that features “a female model with dark skin and bright pink lips,” the Daily Mail reported. Dunkin Donuts ad Photo Credit: The Daily Mail. “It’s both bizarre and racist that Dunkin’ Donuts thinks that it must color a woman’s skin black and accentuate her...

Living in the United States is great. You can say what you want, own what you want, shoot almost anything you want – it's like a dream that's too good to be true. It can fairly be said that the United States of America has offered an unprecedented level of prosperity and freedom to more people than just about any other political system in the history of the world. After all, we don't see any evidence that the ancient Sumerians were laying rubber in from of any Dairy Queens with any 1969 B.C. Mustangs, am I right? But yet –...

We all know that people on the Left are the great destroyers. There is not a single institution in this great land that they do not want to tear down, demolish, devastate, obliterate, and annihilate. There is not a single just and righteous law that they do not seek to subvert and overturn. There is not a single needful tradition that they don't desire to delegitimize and replace with abject nonsense. The object of all this effort on their part is power — pure, unadulterated power. They want to be able to run our lives, they want to be able...

The newest battleground for the fast-food giants is breakfast. McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks have turned up the griddle on joints like Dunkin Donuts, forcing them to fight back. Said Dunkin Donuts to the breakfast bullies, "Suck on our Sausage Pancake Bites!" Last week, for a limited time only, Dunkin Donuts launched its Sausage Pancake Bites as a market test item. Billed as "a poppable breakfast snack that makes it easy for anyone to savor the delicious pairing of pancakes and sausages any time of day," Sausage Pancake Bites are bite-sized sausage links wrapped in a maple flavored pancake, sold...

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone. A 38-year-old former Army doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside: "Sweet Tea (equals) Liquid Sugar." "Hamburger (equals) Spare Tire."...

A Worcester pastry chef's alleged half-baked impersonation of Dunkin' Donuts has landed him in a ``hole'' lot of trouble. The coffee-and-cruller colossus is attempting to squash competitor Gourmet Donuts, charging in a federal lawsuit that owner Walid Alnahhas has greedily helped himself to the chain's trademark orange-and-pink color scheme and its internationally recognized logo featuring the drawing of a steaming cup of joe. Reached yesterday, Alnahhas wasn't eager to bite. ``I have nothing to say,'' he told the Herald. The complaint, which charges Alnahhas with trademark infringement, also accuses Gourmet Donuts of using an ``identical or substantially indistinguishable'' lettering style...