All Starbucks to close: Dunkin Donuts Cashes In

[Kevy Baby]

For those who haven't heard, almost all Starbucks stores across the country will be closing for three hours today:

Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks plans to temporarily close all of its 7,100 U.S. stores for three hours of employee training on Tuesday.

Starbucks said the in-store training program will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is designed to foster enthusiasm in its 135,000 U.S. employees and improve the quality of drinks made by baristas.

Dunkin Donuts decided to cash in on the opportunity:
Free lattes at local Dunkin Donuts when Starbucks is closed today

Anyone who thought the local rivalry between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks was a friendly one has not seen the latest salvo in their coffee smackdown.

When Starbucks shuts down all of its nearly 7,100 national stores this evening for employee retraining (some of the contracted Starbucks are on a different training schedule), Dunkin Donuts will hand out free small hot lattes in all of its 450 Chicagoland stores.

Story here.