Tim Hortons

In the spring of 1963, Toronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple Leafs is an NHL ice hockey team in Toronto, Ontario, playing at Scotiabank Arena.Open the full entry defenceman Tim Horton met businessman Jim Charade, who had been the manager of a doughnut plant in Scarborough, Ontario. Professional hockey players then played only about eight months a year and usually had to plan for an off-ice career, and Horton had long wanted to get into the restaurant business. In 1963 the two formed Timanjim Ltd. and opened four Tim Horton Drive-In restaurants serving burgers and chicken in greater Toronto and Port Credit, but they struggled; Charade concluded that the future lay in doughnuts and franchising.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

In May 1964, the first Tim Horton doughnut franchise opened on Ottawa Street North in the industrial east end of Hamilton, Ontario; the outlet is still in operation and is recognized by the company as its first official franchise restaurant. At the time Horton was only licensing his name and held no equity in the business; the first franchisee was Spencer Brown, a 21-year-old bank clerk from Toronto, and the shop quickly became popular with shift workers from the nearby steel plants.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][2]

The first restaurant went through a series of franchisees, and Charade was moving money from Timanjim to his struggling doughnut company without Horton’s knowledge. To resolve the problem, on January 27, 1965, Horton became an equal partner in Charade’s doughnut business, which was incorporated as Tim Donut Ltd. In February 1965, Ron Joyce, a Hamilton police officer who lived nearby and ran a Dairy Queen on the side, became the third franchisee of the Hamilton restaurant.⁠[1][1][1][1]

Joyce clashed with Charade and left for a time; he agreed to return only if he was made Horton’s equal partner. After Charade departed, his former half of Tim Donut was owned by Horton’s wife, Lori; in December 1966 Joyce bought that half for $12,000 and became Horton’s partner. By 1967 the two had three outlets in Hamilton and one in Waterloo; Joyce left policing to run the business full time, while Horton, still playing hockey, handled real estate matters such as choosing locations. According to the company, after the two became partners in 1967 they opened 37 restaurants over the next seven years.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][2]

In the early hours of February 21, 1974, Tim Horton, then playing for the Buffalo SabresBuffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres is an NHL ice hockey team in Buffalo, New York, playing at KeyBank Center. The club began NHL competition in 1970–71.Open the full entry, was killed in a high-speed single-vehicle crash in St. Catharines while driving back to Buffalo after a game in Toronto; he had just turned 44. When he died the chain had 35 outlets and was planning to expand beyond southern Ontario into the Maritimes. In June of that year, Lori Horton and Ron Joyce created a foundation in Horton’s memory to provide camp experiences for children from low-income families, with the first camp at Lorimer Lake near Parry Sound.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

After Horton’s death, a share trust agreement left Joyce with 50.5% of the shares and Horton’s widow, Lori Horton, with the other 49.5%. In 1975 Joyce bought her shares for $1 million and a company car, becoming the company’s sole owner. Lori Horton later sued in 1987, seeking her half of the company back or $10 million; the suit failed in 1993, as did an appeal.⁠[1][1][2][1][1]

In the early 1990s, Tim Hortons and the American hamburger chain Wendy’s formed a partnership to develop real estate and combination restaurants housing both brands under one roof. In 1995, Wendy’s bought Joyce’s interest in the Tim Hortons system and incorporated Tim Hortons Inc., a Delaware corporation, as a wholly owned subsidiary, while the head office remained in Oakville, Ontario. Wendy’s ownership allowed Tim Hortons to expand more aggressively into the northeastern United States; Joyce stayed with the company until he retired in 2001.⁠[2][2][1][1][1]

During the 2000–2001 recession, several Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chains failed or faltered, and Tim Hortons went on to become Canada’s largest fast-food chain; having expanded into lunch, it surpassed McDonald’sMcDonald’sMcDonald’s is a publicly traded restaurant company headquartered in Chicago, known for hamburgers, fries, drive-thrus and its franchise network. Its origins lie in the restaurant opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940; Ray Kroc expanded franchising from 1955. It operates across more than 100 countries, with the great majority of restaurants run by independent operators.Open the full entry in sales in Canada in 2002.⁠[1][1]

The United States was seen as the main hope for growth, but American consumers were more loyal to domestic brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts. In 2004 Tim Hortons bought the New England regional chain Bess Eaton to expand there, but the effort fared poorly, and by 2010 it had been forced to close 49 outlets and 18 service-station kiosks.⁠[1][1]

On March 23, 2006, Tim Hortons Inc. issued its prospectus for an initial public offering of 29 million common shares at a public offering price of about $23.162 per share, raising about $671.7 million in gross proceeds; the shares were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “THI,” with delivery by the underwriters on March 29. After the offering Wendy’s still owned 84.65% of the shares (82.75% if the over-allotment option was exercised in full).⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3]

That year Tim Hortons also opened an outlet in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for Canadian troops deployed on the NATO mission.⁠[1]

Wendy’s announced that it would distribute its 82.75% stake in Tim Hortons to Wendy’s shareholders of record as of September 15, 2006, with the distribution taking place on September 29, 2006, making Tim Hortons an independent public company.⁠[4][4][2]

Tim Hortons centers on coffee and baked goods and also serves hot and cold beverages and breakfast, lunch and dinner items such as sandwiches, wraps and flatbread pizzas. RBI’s TH segment runs supply chain operations, including two coffee roasting facilities that roast most of the coffee for Tim Hortons restaurants worldwide; the TH segment is based in Toronto.⁠[5][5][5]

In Canada, Tim Hortons is often seen as a symbol of national identity: in 2009 Harper extolled it as emblematic of Canadian life, and by the 2011 federal election the term “Tim Hortons voter” had entered the political lexicon. The company takes part in community activities through the Tim Hortons Foundation Camps and the Timbits youth sports program, and the foundation’s best-known fundraiser is Camp Day, when all proceeds from hot and iced coffee sales at participating restaurants go to the foundation.⁠[1][1][1][1]

Criticism of Tim Hortons has included the waste from its non-recyclable coffee cups; in 2012 the Humane Society launched a campaign urging it to source pork from pigs not raised in gestation crates, and in 2013 the company pledged to eliminate such stalls from its supply chain by 2022. In controversies over Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs from 2009, some franchisees had to defend their hiring and treatment of foreign workers; after Ontario raised the minimum hourly wage from $11.60 to $14.00 in January 2018, some franchised locations cut employee benefits, paid breaks and tips, prompting protests across the province and the country.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1]

Tim Hortons: Official website: https://www.timhortons.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

Tims China: Official website: https://www.timschina.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[7]