Original Article By: St. Louis Business Journal 

A national coffee chain plans to build a new location at a former pizza restaurant in St. Louis County.

Dunkin’, known as Dunkin’ Donuts until its 2018 name change, filed an application with the city of Crestwood to renovate an existing restaurant site at 9600 Watson Road. The site, at the southwest corner of Watson and Old Sappington roads, was previously occupied by an Imo’s Pizza location that closed.

Under the plan, Dunkin’ would renovate the inside and outside of the 1,753-square-foot building and add a drive-thru.

The 0.34-acre property is owned by an entity registered to Carl Imo of Fenton, one of the sons of the founders of Imo’s Pizza, Ed and Margie Imo. Carl Imo served as president of the company until 2022. Imo’s now operates a restaurant at 391 Watson Plaza, a nearby shopping center in Crestwood.

The drive-thru would include a menu board, a height bar to protect the canopy and new circulation patterns, city filings show. Dunkin’ would work with the property owner to replace landscape plantings that are in poor health, and the 12-space parking lot will be restriped, the coffee chain said.

The coffee shop would have eight seats inside, and the restaurant would not have a patio or any outdoor seating under the plan.

The chain would be operated by franchisee OM Watson-STL Donuts Inc., represented by Rick Flather, city filings show. Proposed hours are 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. The site would have six employees maximum at one time.

Dunkin’ didn’t immediately respond to questions about investment costs for the project.

The Dunkin’ would be located across the Watson Road-Sappington Road intersection from the $67 million redevelopment of the former Crestwood Plaza mall site, highlighted by a Dierbergs Market grocery store and other new restaurants.

Dunkin’, based in Canton, Massachusetts, has a dozen locations open in the St. Louis region, with plans to open another in south St. Louis city.