Donut lovers rejoice. Canada’s Tim Hortons plans to continue its expansion in the U.S. Don’t know about the Tim Hortons restaurant chain, or who Tim Horton was?
Tim Horton was a defense-man for the hometown Maple Leafs when I was a boy. I adopted his uniform number back then, and I still man the blueline for my hockey team with number 7 on my back. A Canadian coffee-and-doughnut company was formed under his name after his untimely death in an auto accident many years ago.
One of Canada’s best known brands, Tim Hortons has been so successful in Canada that the market is saturated with its establishments. As further growth there is limited, to find additional restaurant opportunities, it made sense to expand south of the border.
So Tim Hortons stores have appeared in other states. But with so many Canadians in Arizona, why hasn’t some opened here? One reason is that its US operations have failed to meet performance expectations.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Tim Hortons has struggled to generate Canadian levels of profits south of the border, due to competition from established brands such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130916-710223.html. This has led to a pause in expansion, and speculation that Tim Hortons can’t extend further and may even abandon its US stores.
However, in the article in The Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Marc Caira said that they are committed to the U.S. market, and it is “a must-win.” If they have to, Tim Hortons will partner or associate with companies who can provide the necessary equity contribution to enable their invasion of the United States. That is great news, and hopefully we will see a Tim Hortons in the Phoenix metropolitan area soon.
Besides its tasty donuts, another reason to want Tim Hortons here is that it has been a good citizen, as shown by its help of flood victims. Although you may be thinking of the flooding in Colorado (and maybe even Acapulco), Canada has also recently incurred the ravages of Mother Nature.
This summer, 94% of all of all homes in the ironically named town of High River, Alberta were decimated by flood waters. The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Tim Hortons created an “Alberta Rose” doughnut (the wild rose is Alberta’s provincial flower) to raise cash for flood relief. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/tim-hortons-creates-alberta-rose-doughnut-to-raise-cash-for-flood-relief-213185461.html. I wish I could have helped by eating one!
If you would like to know more about real estate and the Canadian presence in Arizona, contact me at 480 675-0112 or mark@simplysoldaz.com.
Mr. Kramoltz, JD, GRI, CIPS is the Designated Broker for SimplySOLD Arizona, a boutique real estate brokerage that specializes in the global marketplace. Mr. Kramoltz writes articles that provide valuable and unique information on local and international real estate issues from his perspective as a real estate attorney, an Arizona Department of Real Estate certified instructor, and an active licensee. Check SimplySOLD’s Facebook page regularly, follow him on Twitter @azpropexpert, and visit www.simplysoldaz.com for properties for sale and more on Arizona real estate.
N. Mark Kramoltz © 2013, All Rights Reserved.