Thoughts on culture, education, and having been a Canadian in the US
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A Canadian Icon Turns Its Glaze Southward

As many of you may know, I have a particular penchant for Tim Hortons. There’s not a trip to Montreal these days that doesn’t involve a stop at the Tims in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu for an extra large black coffee and a blueberry fritter or chocolate-dip donut.

I’ve always said that if I ever won the lottery down here, I’d open a Tim Hortons here in Vermont. Despite Vermonters disdain for chains (Montpelier is the only state capital without a McDonalds, and South Burlington’s staple Al’s French Frys probably outsells the McDonalds next door by a ratio of five to one ) I think there are enough Canadians to keep a Tims in business here. I even have a great spot picked out for it here….

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, Tim Hortons is back in the news here in the US. The WSJ published an article on the growing presence of Tims south of the border, a phenomenon about which I was interviewed last fall for a story on Epicurious.com. There’s a glaring error in the WSJ story that any Canadian will be quick to catch. The first person to point out this error in the blog comments will win a free coffee from me the next time I see you….

In its home country of Canada, Tim Hortons claims a whopping 76% of the coffee-and-baked-goods market. Named for its late founder, who was an all-star defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, the chain is so ingrained in Canada’s culture that the term “double double” — shorthand for a Hortons coffee with two creams and two sugars — has its own entry in the Canadian Oxford dictionary.

But industry analysts say that, in about seven years, Hortons will have built as many stores as Canada can support. So, barely a year after the chain was spun off by Wendy’s International Inc., Hortons is ratcheting up its U.S. expansion. Currently, most of its 340 U.S. stores are in strongholds near the U.S.-Canada border in Michigan, Ohio and upstate New York. But by the end of 2008, Hortons wants to have 500 U.S. stores — and perhaps more, depending on if the company can make inroads in New England.

Source: A Canadian Icon Turns Its Glaze Southward – WSJ.com:

Thanks to Don Tinney for spotting this article for me.

3 comments

1 justin { 05.17.07 at 2:02 pm }

I recently had breakfast at one of their new shops in Maine, so maybe they are not that far from opening a Vermont franchise. As far as fast food goes, for me it ranks right up there with Moe’s (for which I’ve developed a rather serious affection). So when you do open one here, you can count on at least one regular customer! 🙂

2 Chris Palmer { 05.18.07 at 2:25 am }

Glad to see that Tim Horton’s is working on expansion. Although Dunkin Donuts is good, I’d venture to say that Tim Horton’s is better. As for the error in the WSJ article, it occurs in the following quote “, who was an all-star defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League…”. Any self respecting Canadian or lover of Canada would know Tim Horton didn’t play for the Habs, He played for the Leafs.

3 Paul Martin { 05.18.07 at 11:04 am }

Congrats to Chris Palmer, who although he was beaten to the punch by my sister, was in fact the first person to POST the correct answer. Chris wins a coffee on me when he gets back to town and Heidi wins the runner up prize of three timbits of her choosing. Congrats to the winners!