By Danielle Modica | August 22, 2022
Albany’s D.P. Dough permanently shut its doors this past Saturday, Aug. 20. The downtown staple has served late-night bites - calzones, tater tots, cookies and more - to the Albany community since 2007.
D.P. Dough is an independently-owned franchise chain founded in 1987 by mother-son duo Penny and Dan Haley. The first location, opened near the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, found success catering to college students. There are approximately 27 franchise locations across the United States today, all located within college towns.
Albany franchise owner Nick Warchol released a statement on Instagram last week notifying the community of their closing. The announcement came after almost three years of COVID-19 Pandemic struggles, building issues and dealing with Albany’s changing demographic. All of which led Warchol to reach an agreement with the D.P. Dough corporate franchising team, allowing him to buy out their contract and close the Albany location.
D.P. Dough’s Instagram statement on August 13
Photo Credit: D.P. Dough Albany / @dpdoughalbany
“We’ve been through a lot together the last few years,” the statement reads. “We appreciate all of our staff and customers that made this experience special.”
This is not the first time D.P. Dough Albany closed shop. The original franchise location on Western Avenue was shuttered for a year in 2013 before Warchol gained ownership and reopened the shop in April 2014.
Warchol was first employed at D.P. Dough Albany in 2008 as a delivery driver and continued to work on-and-off at the location for the last 14 years.
“The market was robust when we first took it over - the Pine Hills neighborhood was brimming with college bars, frat houses and students,” Warchol said. “One by one the bars closed and the student population began to dwindle.”
In addition to the changing Albany neighborhood, Warchol faced “significant disrepair” and an unresponsive landlord at the Western Avenue location. The franchise moved to their most recent storefront on Lark Street in September 2019, promoting promising renovations on their social media.
D.P. Dough Albany’s moving announcement in August 2019
Photo Credit: D.P. Dough Albany / @dpdoughalbany
“We were forced to relocate and didn’t have a lot of time to think the move through,” Warchol said. “On Lark Street there is more bar traffic, but put us even further out of the scope of college students.”
In-person classes were halted in March 2020 with the COVID-19 Pandemic, leading University at Albany students to study remotely. D.P. Dough’s core demographic was no longer ordering at the same rate.
“It’s still a college area, but it’s nothing like it was back in the day,” Warchol said. “Once students came back for in-person classes, we never returned to being the UAlbany staple we once were.”
Inside D.P. Dough Albany’s Lark Street location
Photo Credit: D.P. Dough Albany / @dpdoughalbany
Warchol looks forward to focusing more on other endeavors post-closing. He has previously partnered in creating other local eateries such as Herbie’s Burgers, Lo-Fi Bar and Lounge, amongst others.
“It’s been an uphill battle that we’ve decided to stop fighting,” Warchol said.
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