RIVER FALLS – Dunkin’ Donuts has been the east coast’s top coffee and donut chain for decades, and owner Sahil Taneja has brough the craze to Wisconsin, opening a shop in River Falls. 

The shop at 1287 N. Main St. opened June 19 in the former Burger King location and has been busy since. Taneja was looking to ease into opening the restaurant to allow everyone to settle in, but is thrilled with the reception it got.

“It’s been nuts, it’s been nonstop,” Taneja said. “We’ll do a grand opening in August, we just wanted to quietly open the doors… We didn’t have to do it. I think the word went out in the community.”

The River Falls shop is the sixth Dunkin’ owned by Taneja, with the other five being in eastern Minnesota.

While the shop opened in June, the team ran into supply chain and construction issues that delayed the process for well over a year.

“We were supposed to open the store in late 2021, early 2022, but just different things, construction, supply chain issues, stuff like that kind of delayed that project,” Taneja said.

Taneja was born in India before moving to Boston to attend nearby Southern New Hampshire University.

Taneja’s studies in hotel management brought him to Roseville, Minn., where he worked at the Radisson hotel for 12 years, becoming a general manager of the Minneapolis and South St. Paul locations.

Taneja had the desire to open a business of his own around 2010, but did not know what to open until he and his wife Mercedes made a road trip back to Boston. The two stopped at a Dunkin’ and Mercedes sparked Taneja’s mind on the coffee business. Dunkin’ is an extremely popular stop on the East Coast, and Taneja felt Minnesota and Wisconsin would enjoy the morning staple as well.

The thing Taneja wants people to understand is that Dunkin’ is not just a place to get coffee or donuts; they also have all kinds of food and drinks from breakfast sandwiches to lemonade. One of the main reasons Taneja decided on Dunkin’ is because it is a place for the whole family.

“I want to be in a business where I feel comfortable eating, drinking, taking my kids to,” Taneja said. “It’s a one stop shop, and that’s what I love about Dunkin’.”

Owning Dunkin’ Donuts locations has taught Taneja that the two most important things are smiles on the customers’ faces and having trust in and respect for employees.

Taneja’s 5-year-old son, Kion, put things into perspective for Taneja on how the business should be run differently when he was two years old in 2020. A teacher asked Kion what his dad does for a living and he said, “My dad makes people smile for a living.”

Confused about the statement, the teacher asked Taneja what it meant; he began to understand the perspective of his son.

“That’s an interesting way to look at things,” Taneja said. “I went back to my managers, I said, ‘Guys, I think we are looking at this business completely wrong.’ We’re not in the coffee or donut business, we are in the business of making people smile.”

In addition to making the customers smile, Taneja has learned through owning Dunkin’ locations that treating people well will always pay off. Taneja said this rule applies to staff, customers, family and anyone else.

“I’ve always lived with a simple rule: you take care of people, people will take care of you,” Taneja said.

Dunkin’ is open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.