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OK, maybe I shouldn’t use the word “invade” for any matters concerning Canada, but it is true that a beloved coffee-and-donut chain from the Great White North, Tim Hortons, has purchased 12 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in the City. Details are sketchy, but I trust Bloomberg. (via the NY Post, though, so I dunno).

In a sense, this is a slap in the face of Dunkin’ Donuts, who are king of NY fast food, being so easily franchised and able to fit into even the tiniest corner of a storefront. But perhaps it’s simply the evolution of that market space. Dunkin’ has, in recent years, shifted their focus from donuts to coffee, as is evident on their homepage. Timmy Ho’s is keeping it real in the realm of the baked goods. So maybe a little competition is just was Dunkin’ needs to get themselves back in the game, eh?

It will be interesting to see how well New Yorkers receive a new competitor in this area. We are very much creatures of habit when it comes to coffee, and in donuts we aren’t the most open-minded folks; Krispy Kreme hasn’t made much of a dent here in spite of their dominance in other parts of the US and Canada. Another hurdle for the Canadians will be coping with New York’s relatively new policy of full transparency for health benefits — no trans fat and requiring a listing of the calorie count have made New Yorkers less likely to buy donuts compared with … coffee, I guess.

Somehow, those rules don’t apply to those peanut vendors on the street. Who knows what’s in those, but damn they’re good.

UPDATE: good old Gothamist has more info, with quotes and everything. »

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