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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Suddenly, there&rsquo;s one fewer place to get coffee in downtown Wilkes-Barre, with the Public Square location of Dunkin&rsquo; shuttering this week.
				The coffee shop chain&rsquo;s downtown location had a sign on its door as of Tuesday afternoon, announcing what it calls a temporary closure.
				&ldquo;We regret to inform you that we are temporarily closing the Public Square location due to current economic conditions,&rdquo; the sign reads. &ldquo;It is our goal to open as soon as the current climate improves.&rdquo;
				Attempts at contacting representatives from Dunkin&rsquo; for comment were not immediately successful as of Tuesday afternoon, so it remains unclear exactly how &ldquo;temporary&rdquo; the closure will be, or what will happen to the employees who work at the downtown location.
				Community reaction
				Larry Newman, executive director of the Diamond City Partnership, said that, while he is unaware of the specifics of what led to Dunkin&rsquo;s sudden closure, he is not surprised, given the changing dynamics of downtown Wilkes-Barre due to the pandemic.
				&ldquo;The result of the current public health orders is that there are thousands and thousands of office workers missing who would normally be there on a weekday,&rdquo; Newman said, estimating that there are about 3,000 fewer office workers downtown than there would be in normal times.
				&ldquo;Those people formed a major part of the patronage of the restaurants and stores downtown,&rdquo; Newman went on.
				Newman suspect that the loss of foot traffic caused by the disappearance of these office workers is what led to the sudden closure.
				&ldquo;It probably doesn&rsquo;t make sense for them to be open at this time if they can&rsquo;t support the overhead,&rdquo; he said.

Downtown Wilkes-Barre Dunkin’ suddenly shutters