Tim Hortons Day Update: Dunkin Donuts Not Going Down Without a Fight
After the news broke that Tim Hortons was invading New York City by taking over 13 Riese owned Dunkin Donuts locations, blogs and newspapers exclaimed DOUGHNUT WARS! Personally, I couldn’t care less about the doughnuts or free coffee from Tim Hortons. I just want an ice cappucino! But whatever your morning poison is, there can be no question it’s a war. via the ML comments: “The scene at 50th and 7th this morning, where there is a recently converted Tim Horton’s on the NE side: Tim Horton’s guy giving out free coffee coupon on the NW corner. Dunkin Donuts girl giving out $1 off coupon on the NE corner. Question is, are there still any Dunkin Donuts in midtown?” A second comment answers that question in the affirmative…
“Hilarious, all the Dunkin people swarming the streets (near 50th and 7th) with signs pointing to the nearest Dunkin with $1 off coupons.”
Dunkin might have made a huge miscalculation with these coupons… $1 off is no match for a free coffee. And that’s not all Tim Hortons is offering according to lunch’er Meyekull:
In front of 42nd St Tim Horton’s between Vanderbilt and Madison, I was given 2 coupons for free small coffee (hot, iced, latte, cappuccino) valid till 7/31. Also, they are promoting their Tim Card (gift card). “Buy a $20 card before 7/20 and get $27.50 value.” This represents a future 27.2% discount. Makes sense to stock up on them if you are a T.H. fan.
And according to steveroller, the battlefield extends to the southern reaches of Midtown:
“The War of 1812 #2 is also heating up down by 34th and 8th from what I saw on my way to work this morning. Like FileEditView and MWinston saw, lots of Dunkin dollar off coupons being passed out.”
Oh and in case anyone has noticed yet from the comments above, there seems to be free coffee available at every location VIA COUPONS that are good until the end of the month, despite the PR person insisting there would only be free coffee at Penn Station. (Can you believe a press release would be misleading!?!)
I think I’m going to wait for the dust to settle (or at least wait until I hear their iced cappucinos are up to par) before heading anywhere near a new Tim Hortons location. Anybody give it a test run this morning?
Related:
BLOCKBUSTER: Tim Hortons Set to Invade New York City (Link includes complete list of NYC Tim Hortons locations)
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:55 am, July 13th, 2009 under Tim Hortons.
12 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
12 Comments
-
-
More significantly, this opens the door to Tim Hortons to expand in the NY metropolitan area. One article said that Dunkin has over 400 locations within 10 miles of Times Square.
T.H. can now start to build an organizational structure and distribution network in this area, with the immediate opening of 13 stores and gradually encroach on Dunkin’s market share….
Having been to T.H. many times in Canada, I believe their product is superior..
Now we have to learn the Tim Horton’s lingo. Im not sure what a single double is, or a double double, but soon we will all find out.
-
Just went to the 50th and 7th location — all small coffees (got an iced for myself and a hot for a colleague) are on the house today. No line!
-
“Personally, I could care less about the doughnuts or free coffee from Tim Hortons.”
Meaning, you can care less, but choose to stop just short of not caring.
It should be
“Personally, I COULDN’T care less about the doughnuts or free coffee from Tim Hortons.”
Meaning, you are at the end of caring. You do not have any more ability to care about this subject.
Minor point but clear distinction between the two.
-
Do they have timbits? I am so curious about TH- all my Canadian friends rave about it.
@ipfreely: I’ve always viewed that expression as a form of litotes. It’s not necessarily incorrect.
-
Disappointed that there weren’t cruller timbits at 42nd/Vanderbilt.
-
@InfoMofo – There were definitely Timbits at Penn Station (LIRR area) and up at 95/Broadway. There were only a couple of people in line at Penn Station around noon after the hype died down.
Photos: http://highlowfooddrink.blogspot.com/2009/07/tim-hortons-now-open-locations-menus.html
-
I had an “iced cappuccino” and didn’t much care for it. Granted I’m an idiot for expecting a cappuccino over ice from a Tim Horton’s, but I was definitely not expecting a coffee flavored milk shake.
-
@ipfreely: Got pedanticalness? http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ico1.htm
I heard someone representing TH (I suspect not a spokesperson but an employee) tout the on-premise baking on the radio this AM spouting off about bagels and DONUTS coming out of the oven.
…and here I thought it the end of cilvilization as we know it when establishments specializing in salad became relatively sucessful but…. and it hurts me to type this….. baking dounts?
Beyond the pale.
-
baked donuts! hahaha…
-
Ok so my cousin from the bronx sent this article to me. I’m from Toronto.
Thoughts and tips:1. In Canada, we call it Timmy Ho’s. Or Timmy’s. Look forward to the nickname it gets down there.
2. The quality of the product IS better than Dunkin Donuts.
3. A ‘regular’ is one cream and one sugar. A double double is two creams and two sugars in your coffee. Similarly, if you ask for a triple triple, you’ll get three servings of cream and sugar. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a quadruple quadruple – in any case that would just be nasty.
4. Timbits are the best invention ever! we can buy a dozen for 2 bucks – and they’re perfectly bite sized.
5. There is a Timmy’s wherever there’s a corner on a block. Sounds like starbucks, but with Timmy’s you get quality and affordability.
6. Look, if you are looking for gourmet coffee, or other gourmet coffee products, you won’t get it at Timmy’s, so don’t act surprised when iced drinks are a bit sweeter and crude. This business was based on serving people who just want a decent cup of joe at an affordable price, without all the bells and whistles.
7. the sandwich combos are GREAT for a quick and healthy lunch.
8. enjoy waiting in line!
-
Sweet, I got quoted!
I’ll also add that yesterday was THE day for free coffee as it was also the first of several consecutive McCafé Mondays at McDonald’s.
I bet this has a lot to do with Reise not wanting to pay royalties for the DD franchise. It’s probably very expensive. This is a big loss for DD.