Dunkin' Donuts Looks Westward

09:11

Updated September 24, 2014

Fans line up for the opening of a Dunkin' Donuts store in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sept. 2. (Nick Ut/AP)

Dunkin' Brands Chairman and CEO Nigel Travis (Courtesy, Dunkin' Brands)

Canton-based Dunkin' Donuts is ubiquitous around New England and in many other parts of the world. There are 11,000 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in more than 30 countries including China, Indonesia and Qatar.

But there is one market the company has had a tough time cracking: the West Coast of the United States. Cross the Mississippi River and, suddenly, it gets a lot harder to find a Coolatta.

Dunkin' wants to change that, specifically in California. Over the next six years, the company plans to open 200 stores in the Golden State. It will not be easy, for a couple of reasons. First, the West Coast is Starbucks country. Starbucks has more than 2,500 stores in California alone. Second, this is not the chain's first run at California. The company tried and dismally failed to launch stores there in the 1990s.

Guest

Nigel Travis, chairman and CEO of Dunkin' Brands.

This article was originally published on September 24, 2014.

This segment aired on September 24, 2014.