Any thoughts on a "Canadian Icon" getting bought?

[ssiguy]

In Vancouver people still hang out at Starbucks to be 'seen" particularly the Chinese much like the want designer everything.

Here in White Rock one of our Timmies is also connected to a Wendy's and like I said Burger Kings are nearly non-existent in Greater Vancouver. Burger King has been a marketing disaster for nearly 30 years. When I was a kid in London in the late 70s there were almost as many Burger Kings as there were McDonald's.

It's good to see the headquarters moved to Oakville and I was surprised to find that Timmies was always headquartered there as I always thought it was in Hamilton.

[manny_santos]

I remember when Robin's was commonplace in London, back in the 90s. The one closest to where I lived was known for having donuts that all tasted like cigarette smoke. A Tim Hortons opened nearby in 2001 and Robin's closed within weeks - became a Mac's and now there's a Pizza Hut there. Robin's exited the London market entirely not long after.

There is still one former location that looks like a Robin's:

bit.ly/1sUDAN5

[Coldrsx]

The US can have it... Bad coffee, mediocre baking, horrid 'food'.

[Pinion]

In my geographically isolated suburb of Vancouver (north shore, pop. 200,000) there are 8 Timmy's and no Burger Kings. Compared to 15 Starbucks and many other local chains. They're just not very relevant.

[vid]

Thunder Bay currently has 14 Tim Hortonses, and 17 Robins Donutses. I'm actually not sure when Robin's got back on top but a couple new ones have opened recently. They took back the Hospital and Bombardier plant recently. A lot of institutions here have five-year contracts for coffee shops that seem to slip between the two each time the contract is up for renewal. We have 5 Starbucks, but only 1 is a stand alone location. There is just 1 Burger King here, it isn't very busy.

[Taeolas]

Freddy has 7 Timmies that I can think of off hand, and 1 BK on the South Side that has been there forever and a day. (We've had 2 Wendy's equally as long, and 2 full McD's + 2 WalmartD's + 1 Mall'Ds).

Just (in the past month or two) a new BK opened just outside the city but not all that far from the other location. It also has our second Quiznos location. (We used to have 3 but all but 1 closed up until this one opened up)

[kool maudit]

i always found tim horton's to be a little sad, like, not homely in a comforting way but homely in a depressing one.

it's not coffee time but it's not not coffee time.

[niwell]

Coffee Time is depressing as shit, but also fascinating. I think the ownership rules are pretty loose because I have been to locations in Scarborough that sell Jamaican patties, jerk chicken, and sweet and sour pork. All of questionable quality. And you know, crack addicts at the Dupont and Lansdowne location.

There's one location off of highway 15 on the way to Peterborough that had really good cheese croissants too.

[vid]

Robin's Donuts is Coffeetime, but it has a slightly more strict corporate identity. Both chains are owned by Chairman Brands. Robins, Powell's Cinnamin Buns and 2-4-1 Pizza were owned by Afton Group until 2006 when Chairman bought them all, so you usually see those three brands all together in a Robin's up here.

Apparently they're planning on expanding Robin's. The newly renovated locations aren't too bad, sort of a cross between Tim Horton's and Starbucks. The food and service isn't as good as Starbucks, but the atmosphere is much more friendly and less sterile than Tim Hortons.

The first Robin's Donuts location is still in operation in Thunder Bay, across from our Greyhound bus station. It's tiny!

https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.409,-...m2UQ!2e0?hl=en

[Marty_Mcfly]

St. John's has 26 Tim Hortons, only 1 Robin's coffee, and 2 Burger Kings. And 5 Starbucks with 3 more opening in the fall.

[vid]

Even after those three new Starbucks open, you'll still have less coffee chain locations than Thunder Bay and we have half your population!

31 Tim's/Robin's in Thunder Bay (108,000) compared to 27 in St. John's and area (just over 200,000).

I just realized, if they merged, they'd be Tim Robbin's Coffee. What an interesting experience that would be.

[1overcosc]

Kingston, population 125,000 (145,000 when out of town students are counted) has 23 Tim Hortons and 8 Starbucks.

Within the downtown core though, Starbucks wins. 3 locations vs. only 2 for Tims. And they're both beaten out by independent cafes, of which there are 5.

Starbucks exists almost solely off of Queen's University students.

We have only 1 Burger King.

[mcmcclassic]

In the HRM, there are 6 BKs I know of (I will have to add up all the Tim Horton's locations because there are too many to count off the top of my head atm).

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

In Vancouver people still hang out at Starbucks to be 'seen" particularly the Chinese much like the want designer everything.

Here in White Rock one of our Timmies is also connected to a Wendy's and like I said Burger Kings are nearly non-existent in Greater Vancouver. Burger King has been a marketing disaster for nearly 30 years. When I was a kid in London in the late 70s there were almost as many Burger Kings as there were McDonald's.

It's good to see the headquarters moved to Oakville and I was surprised to find that Timmies was always headquartered there as I always thought it was in Hamilton.

I work in the west end of Vancouver in the denmen mall and theres a burger king there I frequent often after work.

Theres also a burger king on Granville.

With regards to coffee shops, Vancouver is famous for it.

JJ bean, blenz, waves, etc are all Vancouver coffee chains I frequent weekly.

[MolsonExport]

Burger King is a rare thing in London. Burger Thing was almost completely absent from Metro Montreal, outside of downtown. On the other hand, A&W is very popular in London.

There are ten billion Tim Hortonses in London. At least.

A handful of "Country Style" coffee shops. At least a dozen Starfucks. One lousy Timothy's. Two "Second Craps" and a handful of "Coffee Culture and "Red Roaster" coffeeshops.

[Boris2k7]

I never really "got" the idea or place of Timmies in Canada until I lived in the Maritimes.

Stuck in a power outage, raining heavily, 11PM and figuring out how I am going to get back home (in the next town over) without a car? Sitting in a Timmies.

Driving into a small village and see if there's anywhere to get a coffee? Only place in town is Timmies.

On the regional bus line when it takes a rest stop halfway? Right outside the Timmies.

Damn thing was nearly omnipresent. Everywhere you look, a Timmies.

[Acajack]

Burger King is pretty discreet here in Gatineau as well for a city of close to 300,000. And seems to be dying a slow death.

One location recently closed in the Hull sector of the city and the only one left is on Gréber in Gatineau-Gatineau and appears to always be deserted.

There are also only half of dozen or so BKs left in Ottawa I think...

[SignalHillHiker]

I think Wendy's is the big non-McDonald's, fast food burger joint here.

They have a giant "MOST POPULAR BURGER IN ST. JOHN'S!" banner on Kenmount Road.

[Taeolas]

Yeah, Wendy's has always trumped BK for the Second Place Fast Food Burger chain here in Freddy. Subway actually trumps McD's in the Fast Food Chain wars in general (I think there are as many Subways as Tim's here come to think of it).

I wonder if this deal is a Hail Mary play by BK in general. It gives them a boost in publicity in Canada, a country they seem to be declining big time in, and probably helps them more than it helps or hurts Tims. BK is technically acquiring a company that is more successful than it by just about all criteria. Tim's makes more per store, and makes three times as much as BK does with 1/3rd of the stores. (According to the article below)

Some Stats on the deal

Tim Hortons are plastered all across Canada—there are more than 3,100 coffee shops in the country, or more than twice as many stores per capita as there are McDonald's in the United States.

...
The company reported revenues of $3.26 billion last year (pdf), or nearly three times that of Burger King. What's more, Tim Hortons churned out those sales with just under 4,500 locations worldwide, while Burger King has more than 13,000 restaurants around the globe. The Canadian coffee shop's efficiency is such that it outsold Dunkin' Donuts by a factor of almost eleven to one on a per-store basis.

But it's not just a volume business. The stores are turning a healthy profit, too. The company earned nearly $430 million last year after taxes, which is almost twice what Burger King earned, and more than three times Dunkin' Donuts.

Really, in that light it looks more like the companies decided to combine as equals, or at least they are phrasing it as BK buying Tim's, when Tim's seems to be getting the King, but they want to keep BK's international presence or something.

[Boris2k7]

This map only seems to go as far North as Calgary, but it does show the general spread of Timmies around Canada/Continental U.S.


Source: AggData; FlowingData

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ti...-canada-2014-8