The long awaited Dunkin’ Donuts will soft open at 5 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 17  near the corner of University Ave and Bramlett before a  grand opening on Saturday. The space was formerly occupied by The UPS Store that moved to a space in the same shopping center earlier this year. The Oxford Lafayette Chamber of Commerce will hold a Ribbon Cutting on Friday.

General manager and Oxford native Kellye Blakeney explained, “we actually had students write in to Dunkin’ asking to bring it Dunkin’ here to Oxford, Mississippi, because a lot of students are very familiar with it. And they knew that we didn’t have a Dunkin’ and it’s more affordable to them versus Starbucks.

Dunkin’ Donuts will be open from 5 a.m till 8 p.m. seven days a week and is staffed with 46 employees.

Oxford’s Dunkin’ Donuts will have several new features.  A “coffee tap” with different kinds of coffee  and will keep the iced coffee refrigerated throughout the day. The taps make easier for employees to serve and extends the shelf life. A kiosk screen in the front of the store allows people to walk-in and place an order and pay. They also offer  mobile ordering with pickup stations inside.

“We have a drive thru. We don’t have a lot of space for our customers in here, but we believe it’s going to be drive thru 90%.”

The Oxford Dunkin’ Donuts is owned by franchisee Steven Arttard who owns nearly 100  Dunkin’ Donuts in Georgia.