Tim Hortons Inherits NY Flunkin' Donuts

There are rumblings in New York City about a troubled Dunkin’ Donuts franchise’s switch to a Canadian donut chain. The row between franchise and franchisor has been a long time in the making.

The new Hortons joints will have the same problem as the Dunkin' ones -- they're franchised to the Riese Organization, the restaurant-management outfit that consistently succeeds in making horrible national brands even worse.

I tasted a bunch of the Hortons products and, thanks to the company's reputation, I expected to write that they were an improvement over Dunkin' on the order of a .190 hitter stepping in for a .180 hitter.

If anything, though, I found them even lousier than Dunkin' -- gummier in the mouth and with no discernible flavor improvement.

And this is before they're put through the Riese mill, which churns out gruesome fare in New York under such names as Lindy's, Nathan's, Houlihan's, Tequilaville and T.G.I. Friday's.

I wonder if the Hortons people ever took a stroll through any of them before signing on the dotted line. The last time a friend and I stopped into Friday's near Madison Square Garden seeking only a beer at the bar, we left before the foul air pushed us past the point of merely gagging. – NY Post

The 25-year marriage between franchise the Riese Organization and Dunkin’ Donuts failed after accusations by Dunkin’ of unsanitary restaurant conditions that the chain felt dented the brand’s reputation.

In 1999, Randolph, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Donuts attempted to oust its franchisee after the New York Post ran a photograph of a mouse eating a doughnut in the window of a Riese-owned outlet. In a lawsuit, Dunkin’ “alleged violations relating to health, sanitation and safety.” That was also the same year that Riese Organization filed for bankruptcy and began closing many of its restaurants. …it wasn’t until 2004 that the two companies finally reached an agreement in which Riese Organization agreed to end its ties to Dunkin’ Donuts this month. “We wanted to move as quickly as possible,” said a Dunkin’ spokeswoman, “Unfortunately, it takes a significant amount of time to litigate these types of cases.”

Mr. Riese calls such charges nonsense. “They couldn’t demonstrate [in court] that we weren’t running clean and healthy restaurants.” – Crain’s New York

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Related Reading:

• Dunkin' Donuts Sues Shop Owner Over Mice - The New York Times
• Dunkin' Donuts officially departs Penn Station to make way for Canadian chain Tim Hortons, NY Times
• NY Dunkin' Multiunit Leaves for Tim Horton's