Tim Hortons Hit the Big Apple Fritter!

Tim Hortons must love New York City. At least that's what corporate line. The NYC logo will even specify what it is, of course: a 'coffee and bake shop'!

Truth be told... a Dunkin' Donut franchise holder got into a mess with his agreement and contract with DD corporate and as a settlement, he gets to keep the site locations he owned but was striped of the franchise name and the bakeries.

Between Friday night and dawn on Monday, the Riese Organization intends to convert 13 Dunkin’ Donuts stores into the city’s first Tim Hortons restaurants, including early-morning, high-traffic shops like the one in Pennsylvania Station and New York Stock Exchange.

The conversion comes after a decade of contention between Riese and Dunkin’ Donuts that peaked after The New York Post published a photo of a mouse munching on a doughnut in a shop operated by Riese on 46th Street at Fifth Avenue. The chain sued Riese, and the sides eventually agreed that the relationship would end this week in what Dunkin’ Donuts called a “disenfranchisement.”

The high cost of rent in Manhattan made it impossible to earn an acceptable profit from Dunkin’ Donuts, Mr. Riese said.

The switch may surprise regular customers of the shops, said Dennis Riese, chief executive of the Riese Organization.

Canadian tourists and immigrants like Jaye Landon, who said “Wow” when she heard the news, may be the surest customers for the Tim Hortons.

“It’s hard to be a Canadian and not love Tim’s,” said Ms. Landon, an Ottawa native who has lived in New York for 20 years but still has a Tim Hortons coffee mug in her kitchen. “When you’re crossing the prairie and going through bear-infested territory, Tim’s is your friend.”

But not all Canadian expatriates will be rushing in for boxes of Timbits bite-size doughnuts. Naomi Campbell, an artist who grew up near Montreal and lives in Brooklyn, said the allure of Tim Hortons — and doughnuts of all kinds — eluded her. “I tend to lean more toward the croissant type of breakfast foods,” she said.

To find your TimFix in NYC see this link: http://www.timhortons.com/us/en/about/nyc.html