Doughnut Shop Trying to Survive a Dunkin’

Burger King, Wal-Mart, Kinney Shoes, Dunkin’ Donuts are hardly names that stir feelings of fear and loathing in the masses.

But for Joseph and Lorrie Liani, the owners of a quaint doughnut shop down the road from Salem State College, the names are like a punch in the stomach. It’s the feeling that strikes any mom-and-pop business when a national franchise--Liani calls them the “big boys”--rides into town.

Dunkin’ Donuts is the newcomer in their case, and it has hitched itself up right across the street from the Lianis’ little shop.

“What you’ve really got here is two countries fighting a war, and one’s fighting with sticks and the other country has guns,” Joseph Liani, 31, said.

The Lianis have poured their adult lives into the Donut Ring, a shoe-box-size diner with 10 swivel stools, a Formica counter and freshly brewed coffee.

“There was always security knowing that we had our own business,” said Lorrie Liani, 30. “There wasn’t a threat--until now. Somebody’s next door, taking our customers away and taking money out of our pockets and taking food out of our mouths.”

The Lianis said their business dropped 10% to 15% over the first month. “So it’s not as bad as I thought it might be,” Joseph Liani said.

Much of the Donut Ring’s business comes from the morning traffic of professors and students to Salem State and from commuters on their way to Boston, about 20 miles to the south.

The Lianis aren’t giving up. So far they haven’t had to worry about a price war--both doughnut shops charge about the same prices. The Donut Ring, for example, has cheaper coffee but more expensive filled doughnuts.