There is no longer a Dunkin' Donuts in downtown Norwich after the shop at 227 Main Street closed on Sunday.
“This is usually where everyone went, this is the hot spot,” said Jeremy Cruz, who works downtown. “Always came here to get coffee, you know, eat lunch, now we have nothing over here.”
A sign on the door lets customers know there are four other locations nearby, including three within a mile.
“If I go on break, I don’t want to take my time to go cross-town to get Dunkin' Donuts,” Cruz said.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this closure may cause," a spokesperson for the company told NBC Connecticut in an email. "We are committed to the community and look forward to keeping the people of Norwich running on Dunkin’."
It may be a corporate chain that moved out, but Darrick Shelby said it is a sign of how businesses in downtown Norwich are struggling.
“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s like a ghost town.”
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Shelby owns Fashion 101, a combo barber shop and clothing store next to the newly vacant storefront.
“I just spoke to the owner," he said. “Foot traffic wasn’t enough.”
In the 14 years Shelby has run his shop, he said he has seen many businesses come and go.
“You had like the ice cream shop, you had the grocery store there across the street, you had the YMCA, you had the boxing gym,” Shelby said, “Everything’s gone.”
Shelby said he remembers a different mood downtown growing up. Now, he is just hopeful for some redevelopment.
“I would like to see them invest in this community,” he said.
