In the race among entrepreneurs for who can re-establish Dunkin' Donuts in the Twin Cities, it appears the competition is down to two suburbs.

Chicago-based Vantive Group announced Monday that it will open a location this fall in Roseville, at the northwest corner of Rice Street and County Road B2.

Vantive Group, which runs five Dunkin' Donuts in the Chicago area, signed a lease with Minnetonka-based Colliers International.

To date, one other franchisee, Kod Kod Enterprises, has revealed a location for a future Dunkin' Donuts, this one on 42nd Avenue N. near Winnetka Avenue in New Hope. The hope is to have that site open by the end of the year, a spokeswoman for Dunkin' Donuts said Monday.

In the case of Vantive, Molly Townsend, a senior associate for Colliers, said there are negotiations going on with Vantive for "a number of other sites, and [we] are looking forward to watching them grow in the Twin Cities."

Dunkin' Donuts, based in suburban Boston, ended a nearly 10-year hiatus from the Twin Cities and elsewhere in Minnesota in the summer of 2014 with the opening of an outlet at the Kahler Grand Hotel in downtown Rochester. Another store opened in June 2015 in Duluth, and others are on the drawing board in Mankato, St. Cloud and elsewhere in the state.

Associated Press, Star Tribune
Dunkin’ Donuts was gone from Minnesota for nearly 10 years before a Rochester store opened in 2014.

With more than 11,800 restaurants in 44 countries, Dunkin' Donuts has been steadily expanding its sandwich and wrap offerings in an effort to counter competitors such as Starbucks and Brooklyn Center-based Caribou. The chain, operating since the 1950s, is strongest in the Northeast.

Its persistent push into Minnesota follows inroads in 2013 in Salt Lake City, Dallas and Houston.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482