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Tim Hortons To Open Thirteen NY Stores On Monday

2009_07_hortons.jpg Pat Kiernan will be very happy: The Riese organization, operators of scores of NYC chain restaurants, is closing its 13 Dunkin' Donuts outlets on Friday and re-opening them as brand-new Tim Hortons on Monday morning. The Nation's Restaurant News' story suggests someone's maple leaf prophecy has come to pass. After being dropped from Riese's roster, Dunkin' released a statement yesterday that alleged, among other things, they're still awesome and "in the past five years 244 new Dunkin’ Donuts shops have opened in New York City." The company also explained that a 2004 lawsuit citing "health and safety violations" led to the "disenfranchisement" decision; Riese denies it and says a five-year contract expired. With Dunkin' dissed and Starbucks plugging away at yet another reformulation, expect an onslaught of free coffee promotions in the next few weeks from all sides, especially around Midtown. The announcement comes on top of previous news that Tim Hortons will open three more locations to be co-branded with Cold Stone Creamery in August, including one inside Cold Stone's flagship Times Square store. Tim Hortons is a megapopular Canadian coffee and snacks chain named for its founder, an NHL record-holder who died in a 1974 car accident.

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Comments [rss]

  • team deuce wannabe

    POUTINE!!!

  • Chow

    Tim Horton's is awful! I went to TO for the first time last month and tried it, I thought the coffee was watered down and the timbits were so bland and dry. I don't see how anyone (except Canadians used to it) will enjoy this coffee. I will say the breakfast sandwich on a biscuit was tasty. But DD has better choices for breakfast sandwiches that are healthier and taste better.

  • canadian bacon

    i just came seven times in my pants. nyc is now complete to me. just as i thought i was going to have to get used to the crap from dunkin donuts or the prices of starbucks. what a glorious day.

  • NannyState

    That you came once in your pants has me questioning your canadian-ness.

  • uskyscraper

    Yeah baby, anything to bring more Canada to NYC. Maybe McDonalds will start handing out white vinegar packets next.



    Rrrrrrrroll up the rim!

  • pontiac

    an everything bagel toasted with butter and a small double double for a little more than a toonie. oh canada!



    really, the best thing about tim's is that their small coffee is actually SMALL and not 16oz.



    did i just give myself away with that toonie comment? the invasion is here....

  • UpperEastSighed

    Invasion from the north is imminent, I tell ya.

  • VanessaNYC

    I live in NYC now, but I was born and raised in Canada. Tim Hortons coffee is horrible, burnt and tastes like cigarette smoke. Their doughnuts are fantastic however.

  • wobbleSmith

    you're not from NYC and you live here???



    HOW DARE YOU!



    c'mon fellow gothamist commenters, let's our torches and pitchforks and drive that canuck back to Kingston or Sudbury or the nearest Tragically Hip concert!



    jk

  • VanessaNYC

    And I can't spell Tragically Hip.

  • wobbleSmith

    hah, i grant myself a WIN for that

  • VanessaNYC

    Dude, you got it right! I lived not far from Kingston and listened to Trajically Hip in highschool. Be calm though, I've had US citizenship since I was a wee babe as my mom and dad were Americans.

  • rosweed

    Tim Hortons is a national addiction in Canada. Since we don't any Peets stores here in NYC, I'd rather spend my money on Timmys than Starbucks. I wonder if they'll know what a double double is?

  • smitty

    I try to hit up local coffee shops but I'd much rather hit up a Peets over a Starbucks if one is not available. Can we get some Peets up in NYC??

  • felixthecat2

    I will do demo on their opening date.

  • longacre

    DD was founded in Mass. and is headquartered there, so they probably keep a close eye on the product.

  • longacre

    Grr, reply went to the wrong place.



    Felix, you're going to demo Tim Hortons? As in demolish it?

  • Toby von Meistersinger

    This is good news, although hopefully the quality will not be tainted by Riese.

  • felixthecat2

    boycott them until Canada stop bashing seal cubs in the head.

  • wobbleSmith

    or you could boycott gothamist until people like you.

  • TKaisen

    Did you guys really just make a blog post about the opening of 13 new Tim Horton's with 10 links and not actually reference a list of addresses anywhere?



    The Pulitzer is on the way, guys.

  • Hugh Merwin

    TKaisen, specific locations have not been announced, but here's a partial list of the Dunkin' locations operated by Riese, which have otherwise been yanked from their website. Those 11 spots are all expected become Tim Hortons. In addition, the store locator tool on the Tims website is not yet indexing the new NYC stores, but here's the link anyhow. And finally, the August co-branding between Tim Hortons and Cold Stone Creamery will include the latter's flagship location, referenced above, at 253 W 42nd Street. Hope that helps, and I don't really want a Pulitzer, anyhow. Thank you for reading Gothamist.

  • TKaisen

    As someone who worked in customer service for 10 years, I am immune to your overly-polite passive-aggressive response. I will, however, thank you for the locations and simply mention it would seem straightforward for the same research to have gone in to the initial post. As Midtown Lunch did.

  • rdsizzle

    Dude you sarcastically lambast the guy for not including the locations, which arent even clear yet…his “passive aggressive” mockery of you was more then warranted and enjoyable to others.

  • rdsizzle

    Tim Hortons coffee is awesome - much better then DD.



    Good bagels and muffins too!



    Donuts is for fat people and ice caps for faggots (not that there is anything wrong with that)

  • firewire

    tim hortons are all over buffalo and western new york. their donuts are donuts, nothing amazing. i can't speak for their coffee because coffee is the equivalent of diarrhea water as far as i'm concerned.



    people in buffalo area would probably kill and murder just to get their caffeine dose, as the drive-thru windows always have a lineup of cars in the morning hours. but the 24-hour aspect is great when your only other option is mcdonalds.

  • msmerymac

    Not to mention, the drive thru windows are appealing in the winter when you want to get out of your car/house as little as possible.

  • buttface

    26 comments for Tim Hortons?

  • buttface

    26 comments for Tim Hortons?

  • janelle

    i've always had a soft spot for tim horton's double chocolate doughnuts.

  • JenChungsBaby

    I've never heard of Tim Horton's. But it's damned depressing to know that Dunkin Donuts has opened 244 stores in NYC in the last five years.

  • Outter Burrougher

    amen.

  • I'm pretty sure all dunkin' donuts are terrible.

  • I'm pretty sure all dunkin' donuts are terrible.

  • TKaisen

    NYC DDs are all terrible. I don't know why. The ones in Boston are excellent. You would think it's hard for DD employees in NYC to screw up making coffee, but somehow they manage.

  • Ed

    This is the best news we've seen in awhile (OK, things have been pretty sad). Tim Horton's is a much better chain, the only problem I see is that if Riese is really a crappy operator it may not make much of a difference.



    I'm not sure why chains do well in places where you have food carts.

  • aspiringrapper

    Frankly, anyone who eats donuts is wanting for something, but if you don't like Tim Horton's, go eff yourself.

  • matty

    Only complete hosers eat at Tim Hortons.

  • aspiringrapper

    Wonderful news! Swiss Chalet cannot be too far behind, I hope!

  • JacqueMehoff

    is this more stuff white people like?

    if so, make sure this chain uses the brightest fluorescent tubes possible and make the waitresses were uniforms like in "Alice" and say kiss my grits.

  • VanessaNYC

    No, it's not just white people who like Tim Hortons. Canada has a diverse population with different colors and cultures living together among all social classes (Canada has plenty rich and educated Blacks, Indians, Asians, Natives, etc. Canada's multiculturalism is called "a beautiful mosiac" meaning different colors and cultures live together in harmony yet maintain their individual heritages and customs. In America I beleive we call it "a melting pot."



    So no, Tim Hortons is isn't something white people like. Alice's diner was in the south, not the north.

  • Supergome

    It wasn't Alice's restaurant, it was "Mel's Diner," and it wasn't in the South, it was in Phoenix.



    Alice's Restaurant was in Stockbridge, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song.

  • JacqueMehoff

    Pics or it didn't happen.

  • VanessaNYC
  • tmz is evil

    Get a freaking grip. He was making a joke by referencing the website "Stuff White People Like." Geez!

  • VanessaNYC

    RC, I understand what he was referencing and I have a "freaking" grip. Thanks. :S

  • TKaisen

    Yes Yes. The only way to be a true awesome person is to drink Chock Full o Nuts brewed in a street cart. We get it.

  • JacqueMehoff

    well it is the Heavenly Coffee.

    but anything to make the transplants feel more at home, right?

  • Rfive

    white people with mediocre to poor taste. it's named after a HOCKEY player.



    pass....

  • msmerymac

    It was FOUNDED by said hockey player.

  • snickerdoodle

    Too bad Aunt Jemima doesn't make soul coffee.

  • canachick

    It's TIMMY HO'S, people!



    Git yo Tim-bit on!

  • NannyState

    Woohoo! I love Timmy Ho's! It's so...ordinary!

  • Lesliepbg

    Went to a couple of T.H.'s in New England last summer and don't really see the hype. The coffee was like dishwater and the doughnuts nothing memorable. They did have some kind of slushy lemonade drink that was good but that was just b/c I needed a cold drink.



    I much prefer DD coffee and their doughnuts, but the true question is why did Krispie Kreme fail? I thought they were the best--hot and fresh with a glaze that was great. Time will tell about T.H.

  • VanessaNYC

    Leslie, The hype isn't about coffee just about nostalgia for some people. Tim Horton was a Canadian hockey player, many Canadians grew up with a Tim Horton's in their neighborhood, the company gives plenty of money to charities (Tim Horton's Camps) and people like the brand. The coffee is horrible. I think the doughnuts are pretty good.

  • hotstepper

    i drink none of this sludge. how hard is it to make coffee at home? why do people always need to be sipping on something (water, soda, coffee, etc.)? is the modern human so damn thirsty? it's a wasteful habit and adds mountains of trash to landfills and our streets.



    *stepping off soapbox*

  • tolu1973

    I walked into a Tim Hortons last year in Canada and asked for an iced coffee. The woman behind the counter got lost in a trance and when she came back was like, "Icccceeddd Cooofffeee?"



    Alright folks, you're in the big city now, it might be time to adapt your menu and tell your workers about the incredible advancements of the cooling down of the coffee drinking process.



    Eh.

  • eller

    TDL serves iced coffee now... It has been in test here for a while now.



    Enjoy your Timbits, and Take off, eh.

  • sadpanda

    My girlfriend had the same experience at a Canadian Tim Hortons. She eventually ended up ordering a cup of coffee and an extra-large cup of ice. Didn't work so well.



    Months later at a Tim Hortons near Hartford CT, they had iced coffee. Apparently Tim Hortons' American outposts did get the memo ...

  • Amanda Spurlock

    Great, welcome to Ohio.

  • tolu1973

    there's TH in OH?

  • dr zippy

    They've been expanding into the states the last few years. There are plenty of Tim Horton's in Ohio and upstate NY.

  • msmerymac

    There have been TH locations in upstate NY for decades. Tim Horton's opened their first store in Hamilton, Ontario (southern Ontario), and Tim Horton himself played his last season-and-a-half for the Buffalo Sabres.

  • dr zippy

    While Dunkin's has horrible donuts, Tim Horton's aren't much of a step up. They aren't greaseballs like DD's but they do have a weird, bitter, artificial aftertaste to them. Yuck!

  • BongoBoy

    Having Tim Hortons at Madison Square Garden is perfect. Gives it more of that NHL feeling. Now if we can get a Stan Mikita's Donuts ...

  • msmerymac

    Maybe Tim Horton's can pay for ads along the boards during Rangers games. Currently they have ads in all 6 Canadian arenas, Buffalo, and Detroit.

  • tucker

    the question is, will they have the same craptastic donuts and coffee as dunkin, or will they start having timbits right away

  • Pharmer

    Same shit..

  • Dan

    I wonder if the ones being replaced are the ones that I have been to that had horrible coffee...

  • Dan
  • Nyctini11

    WOW, agreed. I've been to several of those, service was awful & they were all disgusting.

  • Rfive

    Look @ this list! Some of the shittiest restaurants in the US are here.

  • I Hate The 7 Train

    Just what we need .... more chains!!

  • OTC

    The Dunkin Donuts run by Riese were a disgrace to the brand with horrible service, medicore coffee, and possibly the worst food of any Dunkin Donuts in America.



    Sadly, they'll probably destory the goodness of Tim Hortons too.

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