Many Central New Yorkers will need to find a new spot to get their morning coffee. Canada-based Tim Hortons locked it doors in the Syracuse area without any notice to customers or employees. Trish Kilgannon spoke with customers and employees after they heard the news.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Wednesday started like any other day for Tim Hortons employees, but that quickly changed.
"Went home and received a phone call that it was it. There is no work tomorrow. So I had to go on and call all of my employees and tell them that don't show up to work tomorrow. That this is it," said Pamela Levison, a Tim Hortons store manager.
Many Central New York locations learned that they will be shutting down. Representatives from the corporate office made their rounds across the region Wednesday night. They locked the doors, pulled down the blinds -- and closed the stores for good.
"The way that they had gone around it is ridiculous. They should have let people know that there was a warning of a shut down date. We should have not been told the day of," said Rosa Newton, an employee.
The employees and customers had no warning.
"I was talking to coworkers and they mentioned all the Tim Hortons stores were closing in the area. And I was very surprised. I was trying to see if it was true," said Lisa Scanlon, a Syracuse resident.
"It was a friend of mine and he said they were all going out of business. And I was like 'wow,' because I was in here last night -- I had a sandwich," said Joe Perugia, a Syracuse resident.
Workers say the timing could not have been worse. They have no idea what they are going to do now with the holiday's just weeks away.
"To tell them that they don't have a job, all of these families, right before Christmas, right before the holidays, it was the worst thing I've ever had to do. I feel really bad," said Levison.
And now the work to find a new job begins for dozens of former Tim Hortons employees across Central New York.
Tim Hortons released a statement saying:
"In line with our vision to deliver a great Guest experience while building and strengthening the Tim Hortons brand, we continuously review the performance of our restaurants. As we build the foundation for accelerated growth in the U.S., we have decided to close some restaurants in New York. We are supporting our Restaurant Owners in their transition and remain excited about the opportunities to expand the iconic Tim Hortons brand in the U.S.
We thank our guests, the restaurant Team Members and the Restaurant Owners."