HARBORCENTER President John Koelmel and Tim Hortons President and CEO Marc Caira today announced that a one-of-a-kind Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shop will open at HARBORCENTER this fall.
The restaurant will be accessible from the street level at the intersection of Main and Scott streets, across from the site of the former Memorial Auditorium. The restaurant will pay tribute to the life and career of Tim Horton, as well as the history of downtown Buffalo. Tim Hortons will join (716) Food and Sport, HARBORCENTER’s 13,000 sq.ft. restaurant and sports bar that will be at the corner of Washington and Scott streets.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to celebrate local history through one of Western New York’s favorite food brands,” Koelmel said. “We are very excited to partner with Tim Hortons to create another great reason to visit HARBORCENTER and Canalside. This restaurant will be a must-see for all coffee lovers, hockey fans and local history enthusiasts.”
“We are proud to celebrate our longstanding partnership with the Sabres and pay tribute to Tim Horton and his legacy here in Buffalo,” said Marc Caira, Tim Hortons President and CEO. “From a single location that opened 50 years ago, to the first U.S. restaurant in Amherst, NY that opened almost 30 years ago, Tim Hortons heritage is as deeply rooted in Buffalo as it is anywhere else.”
This Tim Hortons restaurant will offer many unique elements making it a one-of-a-kind destination. Tim Hortons has worked with the HARBORCENTER team to design a special logo that links the Buffalo Sabres mark with an original Tim Hortons logo. This special logo will be seen throughout the restaurant and used in product packaging.
Within the restaurant, unique displays will tell the story of Tim Horton, as both a Buffalo Sabre and a businessman, and how those paths crossed during his time in Buffalo. The restaurant itself will be designed in a historic nature, with brick walls that will remind patrons of Buffalo’s industrial history on the Erie Canal.
Additionally, this Tim Hortons restaurant will feature displays that tell the story of Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium, the region’s hockey base from 1940 to 1996. Beginning this fall, guests will be able to sip coffee in unique Sabres-themed cups, surrounded by Buffalo history, while looking across the street at the former site of the Aud.
HARBORCENTER’s ice rinks and 800-space parking ramp are both expected to open in September. The Marriott Buffalo HARBORCENTER with 205 rooms and suites and 5,000 square feet of meeting space will open in spring 2015.