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What Happened to Tim Horton's? The Downfall of Canada's Brand

Ironwood

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When you stop at Tim Hortons today, you are supporting a Brazilian hedge fund that controls the brand...imagine that!
 

am1

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When you stop at Tim Hortons today, you are supporting a Brazilian hedge fund that controls the brand...imagine that!

Yes part of the reason why we pass over it now when visiting. Not the same when they are trying to sell the same image. But along the line someone sold out.
 

dioxide45

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Interesting. They must have been between donut batches or maybe they don't make more donuts once they run out and it's closer to lunch? I sat with nothing while Cliff had a cup of coffee.
They don't even make the donuts in the restaurants now. Everything is baked in a commercial bakery and shipped to the stores for sale.
 

LisaH

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Tim Horton's is HUGE in the Buffalo, NY area. So dominant that few other options for donuts & coffee exist. Dunkin' Donuts has tried twice to make inroads only to fail. There's now only 1 or 2 DDs left. I think part of the attraction is that Tim Horton played for the Buffalo Sabres at the end of his career and actually died in a car crash when he was driving from Toronto to Buffalo to get to a game after visiting family.

I personally don't drink coffee and feel their donuts are just ordinary. But, in Buffalo, they have taken on the strategy of McDonalds of saturating the market. For instance, there are 2 store fronts less than 1 mile apart with a service station drive thru just a quarter mile away from one of them and another in-store shop at a car wash another quarter mile down the road.
This must be fairly recent. I was in Buffalo in the late 80’s and don’t remember seeing any Tim Horton’s then.
 

CanuckTravlr

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They don't even make the donuts in the restaurants now. Everything is baked in a commercial bakery and shipped to the stores for sale.

That is not completely accurate. The baked goods are partially baked at the distribution centres and then flash frozen. They then use special ovens in the stores to finish the baking and also add any toppings, such as icing. This was done to be able to control wastage, by cooking up batches on demand, as needed, depending upon what was selling that day. In the old days all the dough was prepared from fresh and everything was baked from scratch in the stores, but it was only done twice a day, so a lot of waste. A friend of ours was a senior exec at Head Office, but left during the purges after the Brazilian owners took over. IMO, they still tasted better when they weren't flash frozen!!
 

CanuckTravlr

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This must be fairly recent. I was in Buffalo in the late 80’s and don’t remember seeing any Tim Horton’s then.

You just missed them! They started expanding into the USA, starting in the late 1980s. There are now over 700 Tim Horton's locations in the USA, including one near Times Square in NYC! I believe they are all in the eastern USA. They also have a number of overseas locations now.
 

geist1223

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Under the old owners do you know how they decided where to build a new Tim Horton's? It was how far a donut would roll from a current Tim Horton's.
 

Ironwood

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Under the old owners do you know how they decided where to build a new Tim Horton's? It was how far a donut would roll from a current Tim Horton's.

I have four TH's within a five minute drive from home. But, the old days are long gone! TH has a new head of operations to lead them into China where they have big plans. The plan is to include local foods on the menu. Good luck with integrating that!
 

Ironwood

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Well, it doesn't matter what I think of the diminishing brand....they just reported blow out profits last night and their fortunes are on a big rebound. I guess, the Brazilian hedge fund squeeze of product quality, server pay and benefits is the way to go in fast food. It's the bottom line that counts, not that I think they have lost their way!
 

chellej

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Anyone hear of this other chain.... Dutch Bros?

Dutch Bros is very popular in Eastern Washington. There are always long lines. They are drive-through only as far as I know. They have a good reputation here for being a very ethical company.
 

silentg

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I know nothing about Tim Hortons, but reading this thread has me thinking. Are Krispee Kreame and Dunkin’ Dounuts Now owned by large Corporations too? What about Starbucks?
When we lived in Massachusetts, Dunkin’s Headquarters were in Randolph, MA. The other donut shops were Mr Donut, Honey Dew and MaryLou. Dunkin’ bought all the Mr Donut shops.
When we moved to Fl. In 1987 there was only one Dunkin’ Dounuts in our area and it was 15 miles away. Now we have 5 of them and a couple of Starbucks 1-2 miles away.
There is also a local Donut shop that makes much better donuts, and we go there sometimes.
Just wondering how these other coffee shop chains are doing and who owns them?
Silentg
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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That is not completely accurate. The baked goods are partially baked at the distribution centres and then flash frozen. They then use special ovens in the stores to finish ........... IMO, they still tasted better when they weren't flash frozen!!

I met a guy who lost his baking job at a Tim's back when they switched . He and all the other bakers who were let go - would likely agree.
 
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T-Dot-Traveller

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Under the old owners do you know how they decided where to build a new Tim Horton's? It was how far a donut would roll from a current Tim Horton's.

At one point - there were 4 ( including the mini ones in the gas station ) between my house & the QEW highway which is about 2 K

IMO -It would probably take a 12 hours to drive to & stop at every location in Hamilton ON ( their real home town ) .
r
 

geist1223

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Dutch Bros got started in the Medford Oregon area and has expanded greatly over the past 10 years. It is better than Starbucks. I strongly dislike Starbucks' Coffee. I find it way too bitter. If we are buying cups of coffee away from home we try and visit small local coffee shops.
 

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We have a couple of Starbucks locally, and while I like their offerings and ambiance, prices are ridiculous. On a hot sticky day this past weekend, I asked for an iced coffee which was $4 and change. At the counter, watching it being made, the cup was filled with ice and little coffee poured in. I said whoa....ditch half that ice and put some coffee in the cup. It was what I wanted at the moment, but I thought it was a little bitter. While I complain about TH coffee, we are off on a driving trip this weekend, and there are 4/5 TH's nicely spaced along our route for the first day....so I will stop.
 

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Being owned by a us company then Brazilian company should have been the end of them. Even before the latest tarriff issues. But people are like sheep.
 

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Being owned by a us company then Brazilian company should have been the end of them. Even before the latest tarriff issues. But people are like sheep.

So what's the alternative? Starbucks or McDonald's...both big US-owned chains? Unless you are fortunate enough to have a smaller local café or a branch of a more local, Canadian-owned chain (most of which have also been bought up by someone) nearby, most of the rest of us are between a rock and a hard place if you want a cuppa or a quick snack. Principles are fantastic, but if no one is prepared to offer practical solutions or alternatives, it's just a waste of breath. Just sayin'!!
 

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Most Tim Horton's stores in Canada are owned by individual/local franchisees, fwiw. They pay franchise fees to the parent corp, but they're not corporate-owned.
 

Ironwood

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Well, back from a week away driving about 1000 km's round trip. Despite all my criticism of TH, we did stop four times along the route and twice at McD, depending on which we found first when looking for a pit stop. This time, I really couldn't tell the difference between coffees. For us, it was just a matter of convenience.
 

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Well, back from a week away driving about 1000 km's round trip. Despite all my criticism of TH, we did stop four times along the route and twice at McD, depending on which we found first when looking for a pit stop. This time, I really couldn't tell the difference between coffees. For us, it was just a matter of convenience.

My family and a lot of people we talk to prefer the taste of the McCafe coffee to Tim's. Everyone at my work stops at Tim's out of convenience, but if McDonald's is an option, it actually tastes better!

It's funny traveling to the US though and noticing McDonald's doesn't really push their coffee / pastry menu the same way there that they do in Canada. Tim's existing is a big reason they've stepped up their game up here.
 

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investment bankers took over the brand and then did whatever to increase returns on investment.. for ex.. switching suppliers, increasing prices, reducing quality and quantitiy, and then cashed out at IPO leaving TH in tatters.
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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. took over the brand and then did whatever to increase returns on investment.. for ex.. switching suppliers, increasing prices, r.

Hi mowgli007
Welcome to TUG - I see this is your second post .

Same thing can happen in the timeshare world / as an example :
see threads on Gold Key ( Virginia Beach TS system ) acquired by Diamond Resorts
about 3 years ago .
 

DrQ

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That's too bad. I spent some time in Ottawa in the 90's and I really came to like Tim Horton's.

This was before MehC Donald's stepped up their game with their coffee. I can't stand the the fru-fru drinks but it starts with pretty good coffee for a decent price.
 

Ironwood

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Just back from another driving trip to visit family over the holidays. Along the route we stopped at 3 TH and 3 MacDonalds and my clear choice is MacD! Better coffee and cleaner premises....and the latter really stood out. The three TH we stopped at looked tired, and were not as clean as they used to be....and we know these outlets as we stop there each trip in that direction.
 
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