Last August, Shamrock Company acquired its first four Dunkin’ locations in West Michigan. All were in need of a bit of a revamp — but our team isn’t afraid of a challenge, so we happily rose to the occasion.
The first order of business was finding a strong, experienced leader to steer our new Dunkin’ teams toward success. We’re happy to say that we found that — and so much more — in Ali Youtz, Regional Vice President of Operations.
Shamrock proudly celebrates its one-year anniversary with the Dunkin’ brand!
Over the past 12 months, Ali has led each of these teams toward a total transformation — and she’s not done yet. In honor of our one-year anniversary with this new market, we sat down with Ali to reflect on all of the hard work thus far.
PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST
A 30% increase in order accuracy, 40% improvement in customer experience — these results are just a small sample of West Michigan’s achievements under Shamrock leadership.
It’s hard to believe that these improvements can happen in just one year, but the numbers don’t lie — and Ali attributes them to our special focus on people development. Specifically, she says that empowering each location’s managers with additional training has made all the difference. At the time of our Dunkin’ acquisition, none of the West Michigan managers were certified. Now, 80% are!
“Transforming the locations really came down to putting people first and meaning it,” Ali shares.
“We care about our teams. We show up. We’re hands-on leaders, and I think that’s what’s helped this market see the success they’re seeing.”
THE ULTIMATE TEST
West Michigan was faced with a huge challenge and opportunity just three months after Shamrock stepped in: National Donut Day. Nationally, Dunkin’ celebrates this “holiday” by giving every customer a free donut of choice with their order — a tradition that, without confident management, could be an operations nightmare.
For the West Michigan locations pre-acquisition, National Donut Day had traditionally been one filled with plenty of chaos and stress. But thanks to Ali’s leadership and Shamrock’s company culture, our first National Donut Day was a resounding success.
The West Michigan customer fave for National Donut Day 2024 was strawberry frosting with sprinkles.
“That, to me, was kind of the turning point,” Ali shares. She knew then that the West Michigan market was truly thriving — not only from a revenue perspective (two locations hit all-time sales records), but from a culture perspective, too. Her teams couldn’t stop talking about how fun National Donut Day was, and even shared that they couldn’t wait until the holiday next year. We look forward to it, too! It’s the sweetest time of year around here.
