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[ Tim Hortons hits Big Apple ]

July 10, 2009   |   By David Brown   |   Comments

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Canada’s biggest coffee and donut chain will gain a foothold in New York City almost overnight. Well, over the weekend anyway.

According to published reports, 13 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the city, operated by the Riese Organization, will be converted over the weekend, opening for business Monday morning as Tim Hortons. The stores will be in high-traffic locations such as Pennsylvania Station and near the New York Stock Exchange.

“You take down one sign and put up another,” Riese Organization CEO Dennis Riese told the New York Times. “The biggest challenge will be to get New Yorkers to know what Tim Hortons is.”

As part of a co-branding initiative with Cold Stone Creamery, Tim Hortons also plans to open three locations in Manhattan in August, including at Cold Stone’s flagship Times Square location on West 42nd Street.

Riese’s franchise relationship with Dunkin’ Donuts comes to an end this month after years of tension between the two, which, according to the Times, came to a head when the New York Post published a photo of a mouse nibbling on a donut inside a Fifth Avenue Dunkin’ Donut store operated by Riese, which led to the chain taking Riese to court.

While Tim Hortons may find it tough succeeding in New York, the Times suggested the iconic Canadian chain would find a ready-made market in tourists and Canadian expats like Jaye Landon, an Ottawa native who has lived in New York for 20 years. “It’s hard to be a Canadian and not love Tim’s,” she told the paper. “When you’re crossing the prairie and going through bear-infested territory, Tim’s is your friend.

 
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