Dunkin’ Donuts stores are debuting a new 99-cent menu at 500 Chicago locations this week, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The 99-cent menu includes a sausage, egg and cheese wrap; bacon, egg and cheese wrap; egg and cheese wrap; raspberry danish; hash browns; and a pack of five Munchkins. The doughnut-holes are usually offered in packages of 25 and 50.
Yesterday, stores also handed out 20,000 gift cards pre-loaded with $2 each at various locations including commuter stations and pedestrian-friendly areas to entice customers.
The 99-cent menu will last through Dec. 26, although there’s a possibility it will be extended in Chicago if it’s “received positively,” said John Costello, chief marketing officer for Dunkin’ Brands. He declined to comment on whether Chicago is a test market for a broader 99-cent menu nationally, the Chicago Tribune reported.
As part of its 99-cent menu, Dunkin’ is featuring a sausage new wrap, available only in Chicago. The egg-only wrap is offered at 99 cents in other cities, but only with a combination beverage purchase, a condition that does not apply in Chicago. Hash browns usually run $1.29 and Danishes normally cost $1.39.
“Chicago is a large and very important market for Dunkin’,” Costello said. With nearly 500 stores in the area, Chicago one Dunkin’s top five markets, and its biggest beyond the East Coast.
The move could be in response to McDonald’s Corp., which in August at least temporarily extended its dollar menu to breakfast in the Chicago area with six items at that price point.
“It has been very well-received by our customers,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Ashlee Yingling told the Chicago Tribune. The promotion will “continue for the foreseeable future,” she said.
McDonald’s reportedly plans to promote a dollar breakfast menu on a nationwide basis beginning in January and running through June.