Doughnuts and coffee to the rescue with the opening of three new Dallas-Fort Worth locations of Dunkin', the Massachusetts-based chain formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts.

The company has opened the following new locations:

• DeSoto, at 834 N. Hampton Rd.
• Lake Highlands, at 6401 E. Northwest Hwy. in Dallas
• Arlington, at 5801 Office Park Dr.

All three stores feature the brand's next-generation store design, with a modern atmosphere, innovative technologies, and better displays of the doughnuts.

Dunkin' Donuts was founded in Massachusetts in 1950, and remains the dominant doughnut force in New England and in Northeast-leaning strongholds like Florida. There are currently more than 11,000 locations worldwide, including locations co-branded with Baskin-Robbins, which is owned by the same parent company.

Dunkin' has been undergoing a rebranding that includes ditching the (incorrectly-spelled) "Donuts" from its name and giving its coffee program equal emphasis along with the doughnuts, says Nathan Pressler, who does marketing.

"We're still selling doughnuts but we're positioning ourselves to new audiences as being not just a doughnut shop," he says. "It's also about the coffee and the beverage variety. We revamped our espresso platform with new equipment and a much higher quality product, to become more competitive with coffee places. Dunkin' is about coffee and beverages. You can get a great quality coffee beverage and spend less money and still have a great experience."

That includes a new system for cold beverages, which are now served through an innovative tap system that serves eight cold beverages such as coffees, iced teas, cold brew coffee, and even nitro-infused cold brew — a unique offering.

The other big change: They're moving the doughnuts from behind the cashier to a case in front.

"At Dunkin', the doughnut case was typically behind the counter and now it's been moved to the front so that customers can see them and select them from a glass case," he says. "That's what most doughnut shops in Dallas do — they put their doughnuts in a glass case in the front counter — and that's what customers are used to."

Dunkin' was slated to enjoy a big rollout in 2012 when Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys formed a partnership to open at least 50 locations in Dallas-Fort Worth. The Cowboys team was supposed to select sites and develop the local market, but the partnership ended in 2016.

There are currently two of what Pressler calls "legacy franchisees" who've operated a handful of locations around Dallas-Fort Worth — Garland, Hurst, Plano — for decades, with new blood coming from four franchise groups who are set to expand the market over the next few years.

All of the future locations will follow the new store model with a modern, contemporary design that encourages you to not only buy a doughnut but sit down and have a latte while you're at it.