A bankruptcy or a pullback in lending by CIT, which finances about 1 million businesses, threatens to permeate industries ranging from airplanes to clothing to software. Microsoft Corp. said yesterday it terminated a vendor financing agreement with CIT, and retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. estimates 7 percent of its vendors use CIT. Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS supply jets to CIT's aircraft-leasing unit.

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As part of a five-year contract with Microsoft, CIT provided financing for customers buying software, computers and services. Customers who already used CIT to pay for products will continue to get financing from the lender, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said yesterday in a statement.

Exxel CEO Kazazian, who has been able to pay his bills, said in an interview yesterday that CIT has restored about 70 percent of the financing it normally provides after last week telling the company it should borrow "the least amount you can live with." Exxel, which also makes tents and wetsuits, sells about 3 million sleeping bags a year, Kazazian said. The company and most of its suppliers rely on CIT for factoring, meaning they sell payments owed for goods to receive immediate funds. This short-term financing provides money to produce more orders. Retailers will typically make payments within 90 days, and the factor keeps a fee based on a percentage of the total order. Kazazian estimates it would take three to five months to move to another bank. "It's not that easy to flip a switch," he said. Kazazian said he is in talks with Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco- based bank that gained market share in small-business lending last quarter.

Tim Hortons, a Canadian purveyor of doughnuts and coffee that has won a wide following, is making a sudden entry into the city.

Between Friday night and dawn on Monday, the Riese Organization intends to convert 13 Dunkin' Donuts stores into the city's first Tim Hortons restaurants, including early-morning, high-traffic shops like the one in Pennsylvania Station and another next to the New York Stock Exchange. The switch may surprise regular customers of the shops, said Dennis Riese, chief executive of the Riese Organization.

"You take down one sign and put up another," Mr. Riese said. "The biggest challenge will be to get New Yorkers to know what Tim Hortons is."

The Canton, Mass.-based company said Tuesday none of its products was contaminated and the withdrawal of the beverages from its stores was a precaution to ensure customer safety. It has about 6,400 franchised restaurants in the United States and says it serves 3 million customers a day.

Plainview, Minn., supplier Plainview Milk Products Cooperative announced it had voluntarily recalled its instant nonfat dried milk and whey protein because of potential salmonella bacteria contamination. It says there were no reported illnesses.

The original Salvation Army Doughnut was first served by Salvation Army in 1917. During WWI, Salvation Army "lassies" were sent to the front lines of Europe. These brave volunteers made home cooked foods, and provided a moral boost to the troops. Often, the doughnuts were cooked in oil inside the of the metal helmet of an American soldier. The American infantrymen were commonly called doughboys. Salvation Army lassies were the only women outside of military personnel allowed to visit the front lines. Lt. Colonel Helen Purviance is considered the Salvation Army's "first doughnut girl".