April 2, 2014 Tim Horton's celebrates 50th

Tim Horton's will celebrate 50 years in business in May with new ideas to shorten lines and a changed menu. With over 4,000 stores and the owner Don Joyce a billionaire Tim’s is skating to score like the original Tim Horton from Cochrane did for over 20 years mostly with the Toronto Maple Leafs who won the Stanly Cup in 1962, 63, 64, & 67 with his help.

Tim’s death on the QEW was recognized with a photo of his sports car in the Globe & Mail on February 14, 2014 recalling 40 years since his death late at night while heading home to Buffalo where he played for the Sabres. Several people complained that the photo was inappropriate as a memorial so I will skip it here. He shouldn’t have been driving that night.

North Bay Connection

Tim and his friend Jim Charade started a couple of hamburger restaurants to top up Tim’s salary which in those days was nothing like they are today. One of the stores was in North Bay. Dan Hokstad who writes a Memories of North Bay Column in the Nugget wrote about the early store in his column on August 1, 2011. (Google for details). Dan notes that the store was where Churchills is today on the Lakeshore. (see photo). Tim’s brother Gerry co-owned the place and ran it. Apparently there was a service station run by Tim’s father where the old Mazda dealership was located. Hokstad remembers the lineups and the food. It later became Woody’s – owned by form MP Bob Wood.

Forerunner to the iconic Canadian Tim Horton's coffee shop was at Lakeshore Drive in North bay

The hamburger restaurants failed so Tim and his friend Jim Charade opened a coffee shop in Hamilton in 1964. Coffee was 25 cents and a dozen donuts 69 cents. They formed Tim Horton’s in 1965. There are now some 70 Tim Horton’s in the Hamilton area.

Don Joyce got involved early and Tim’s friend Jim Charade played a diminishing role over the years until he no longer was a partner. Don Joyce created a lot of the things related to Tim’s today. The summer camps, the roll up the rim, etc. He joined Tims with Wendys in 1995. He stopped making the donuts from scratch and they are now delivered as dough and cooked at the stores.

Ron Joyce bought out Tim Horton’s wife Lori for a million dollars in 1976 and she later challenged the sale in court and lost. Interestingly, the Horton’s oldest daughter Jeri-Lynn is married to Don Joyce Jr, the son of the owner of the chain.

The Canadian Business Magazine has twice named Tim Horton’s the best managed business in Canada. Owners and staff go through extensive training. They outsell McDonalds. Wikipedia notes that Tim’s has 76% of baked goods and 62% of the Canadian Coffee market. Google shows a dozen Tim Horton’s in North Bay today (Google Tim Horton’s locations in North Bay).

The Globe & Mail in a recent article mentioned that Tim’s will open 800 new restaurants in North America with 500 of those in Canada by 2018. A lot of the focus will be on Kiosk outlets and there will be new products. Enjoy!!