Tim Hortons

I once saw a poster over a railroad track in the snow in Toronto. It was advertising Tim Hortons coffee. The caption read 'Not so much held as embraced'. This is at the heart of the reason why it is possible to write an article about a cup of coffee. I know of no other product out there that commands this kind of passion about such a simple commodity.

Founded in 1964 in Hamilton Ontario by hockey player Tim Horton the chain has grown to over 3000 outlets in every Canadian province and some Northern US states. Sadly Tim died in unfortunate car crash in 1974 but the chain has survived going from strength to strength. There is some talk that the Canadian market is now saturated and Tim's has nowhere to go. There has been some success in the northern states but closures in places like North Windham Maine shows that this venture is still not without its problems. My belief is that as long as people need their 'Timmies fix' as opposed to their 'Coffee fix' the franchise will be a prominent feature of the Canadian landscape.

I am familiar with Tim Hortons in Southern Ontario and make a habit of photographing every one that I visit. It's a sad fact but true. Because of the 48 year history there is now a story in the architecture of the stores and how they have changed from the early days to the modern outlet just opened in Brampton on Highway 7. The designs are simple but effective and are designed to 'process' people as fast as possible. Some locations don't work like the one in Georgetown where the till is too close to the door that the clientele end up lining up in the snow or heat! Others are superb like the one on the Guelph road just south of Fergus or the amazing restaurant on the road out west of Owen Sound where there is also a superb ice cream section.

November 11 2010 was a black day in the company's history. Many outlets in Maine and Rhode Island closed due to poor sales. It was a sad day, but the company pointed out that they were simply bad locations and others were being opened at the same time. The jury is still out on the US venture but it remains a tough market against a very strong entrenched Dunkin Donuts.

Today Tim Hortons continues to enlarge and rotate its food menu, promotes its coffee and comes out with all sorts of collectible material including Christmas ornaments and limited edition mugs. Recently it changed its cup size so that the medium size became the new small. The fall out is an extra large cup that is just ridiculous (in the modern affectionate use of the word) they may as well tip the whole coffee pot in at once!

The service guarantee remains good and the days of being served stale coffee are far in the past. Every cup now is steamy and fresh. They have had some success with other coffee varieties and steeped tea but the regular coffee remains the backbone of the company.

Tim Hortons has a great charitable and cultural ethos. They support free swimming and organize summer camps for disadvantaged children in the summer. They also use their cups to celebrate Canadian institutions like the Grey Cup plus there is always the annual excitement of the Christmas paper cup or 'Roll up the rim to win' to lift spirits in darkest coldest February.

If ever you visit Canada, plan lots of events and enjoy this wonderful country. But save yourself 15 minutes to visit a Timmies and wrap your hands around a cup of coffee. Like 26 million Canadians, you won't be disappointed.