LH Dunkin’ to Temporarily Close for Renovations
By Christopher Miller
LOCK HAVEN – People driving and walking past Dunkin’ in Lock Haven within the last 24 hours might have taken notice of the message board under the Dunkin’ sign. “Closing for remodel November 17th 2 p.m.”
Rest assured, Clinton County: your one and only Dunkin’ will only be closed for an estimated 4-5 weeks.
“We really wanted to close earlier but we ran into delays with construction, permits, and variances,” co-owner Amy Oden-Bitner said in a phone interview with The Record. “We made sure to tell our employees first at a meeting last night that this was going to happen temporarily.”
The remodel, which will see a near-gut job of the interior of the store, will also see some work done to the drive-thru lane but that might not be immediate as most asphalt mills close for the year in late-November.
“It will happen in the spring if that is the case, but the interior will see a quicker speed of service alleviating the traffic flow,” Amy said. “Dunkin’ requires that all of its franchisees undergo a remodel of their locations every 10 years.”
That Dunkin’ location started out life as a Mister Donut store in 1981.
“Our father has owned the property since then, rebuilding it in 2004, Amy said. “We switched from Mister Donut to Dunkin’ Donuts in 1993.”
“This is a family business,” Erik added. “It started with our father, Gary, and mother, Sue, and we are the second generation of owners with Amy rejoining the business three years ago. I have been in the business for almost 25 years,” Erik proudly stated.
Amy, along with her brother Erik Oden, own and operate three Dunkin’ locations in Mifflin County, the Lock Haven location, one in Burnham, Lewistown, and their new location in Reedsville.
“Lock Haven architect Charlie Grieb did our original Dunkin’ location and a few of our others, and we started this process with him, then we needed to go with another architect for the final designs when he announced his retirement,” Amy said.
The main goal of the project, according to Erik, is to get in and out of the building as soon as possible.
“Lock Haven is basically my second home,” Erik said. “The City of Lock Haven has been very good to us and helpful in getting variances passed and for making this happen, we love Lock Haven.”
Erik and Amy both stress the importance of respecting their employees on their last day before renovations begin.
“We have really great customer service, just please, please respect our team members before we temporarily close for the next few weeks,” Amy and Erik urged.
