All four Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Iceland have now been closed, RÚV reports. According to Sigurður Karlsson, the CEO of Basko, ehf. – the company which also owns and operates Iceland’s 10-11 convenience store chain – the shuttering comes as a result of high operational costs. “It’s a disappointment, of course, but not everything you try is going to work out.” Some employees would be laid off, he said, while others would be transferred to new positions elsewhere within the company.
Dunkin’ Donuts had four locations in Iceland: one in Reykjavík’s Kringlan shopping mall, one in a 10-11 in Kópavogur, one in Reykjanesbær, and another in the Keflavík airport. All four closed on New Year’s. The chain’s first location in the country opened in summer of 2015 on Reykjavík’s main street, Laugavegur, but closed on November 1, 2017.
“The reception was good at the beginning,” remarked Sigurður, but even with selling their brand name doughnuts to other stores around Iceland (bringing the total number of Dunkin’ Doughnuts-selling locations to 11), “high labor costs, operational costs, and production costs” were, he concluded, too high to sustain the venture.
Sigurður notes that the Dunkin’ Donuts’ difficulties are not restricted to Iceland. The chain has also had problems making inroads all over Europe, with the number of locations in Denmark having been reduced and all locations in Sweden having closed as well.
