In a thread over at Metafilter about Tim Horton’s expanding into New York, someone notes:
As a new immigrant to Canada (Toronto in particular), I still don’t understand the Tim Hortons thing.
There’s a reason Timmie’s is so universal an element of Canadian culture: it’s particularly Canadian in that it transcends class. Tim’s coffee isn’t particularly good coffee and the doughnuts are average at best (they used to be quite good, then the delivery model took over and now the selection is hit-and-miss – although the pumpkin spice donuts, when they show up, are brilliant).
But absolutely everybody will be satisfied with it in any situation. The glory of Tim’s is that everybody in Canada is familiar with it and it’s okay food; CEOs eat Tim’s donuts as often as their plant workers do. You show up at work and no matter what type of work you do or how important your job is, once or twice a week somebody brings a box of Tim’s donuts for everybody. I’ve been to law firms that have their own enormous, well-staffed kitchens with private menus – and they have empty Tim’s boxes in the lounge. Always.
That’s a very egalitarian thing; the well-to-do of American society just aren’t the same way about, say, McDonald’s. Tim’s is a reminder to Canadians that we’re all the same, deep down, and to Canadians that’s a very satisfying thing to remember.
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I think I figured out the coffee thing. It’s not good coffee, but it’s not bitter to offend sensitive palates, they use coffee cream rather than half-and-half so it’s extra-rewarding to your body calorie-wise, and it is just me or are the caffeine levels THROUGH THE ROOF on those babies?
Essentially, it is a happy awake elixer.
US has Krispy Kremes.
Also, num num num?
I think you mean NOM NOM NOM.
Tim Horton’s isn’t good coffee? I thought it was. I mean, I’ve never had a sip of coffee in my life, so what do I know, but I had always heard that it was good coffee.
There’s no comparison between Tim Horton’s and Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme made a big push to expand into Canada with a lot of fanfare and they thought they could take the whole market for themselves, and a couple of years later, Krispy Kreme was gone, but Tim Horton’s remains, Second Cup remains, Coffee Time and Country Style remain. Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you, Krispy Kreme.
I moved to Columbus, OH, and now there’s a Tim Horton’s down the street from me. It freaks me out, because it has zero presence in Cleveland and on behalf of the burning shitpile city, I feel a bit indignant. What, was Tim Horton’s too good for us?
Tim Horton’s is probably closer to Dunkin Donuts than Krispy Kreme.
Dunkin is omnipresent, at least in New England. My affluent hometown of 30,000 people in Connecticut is getting a fourth store. They’re all over Boston, including in the financial district.
I’m going to Toronto in October. And I’m very much looking forward to getting my first chance to visit the legendary Tim Hortons.
Yeah, sounds like Dunkin’ Donuts in New England. Cheap coffee and cheap donuts that everybody eats, regardless of social standing or economic status.
I’ve had a few american friends come up and fallen in love with Tim Hortons after one coffee, the double double especially seems to be a hit. Its odd because I agree with MGK’s feelings on their quality of donuts and coffee. It must be the display of all those donuts or something. *shrug*
Ha, I still think of Tim’s as an Eastern Canada thing — there’s just a handful of ’em out here, and before about ten years ago there was…I don’t know, maybe one or two in Vancouver, a couple more in neighbouring municipalities? There’s more now, but Tim’s is far from thick on the ground in B.C. even in 2009.
The commercials, however, are. And even all by themselves they’re not bad.
In the states, KK is comparable but only in the South East. DD rules supreme in northern climes. Sometime I’ll write a paper on why cold-weather folks prefer cake-like donuts, while down here we like the strange sugar-and-air variety.
As if americans don’t have class-transcending donuteries. We have three!
And for the record, Lamarr’s is by far the best, if you don’t mind going into cardiac arrest after eating them.
Krispy Kremes were too soft and melty. That’s why they failed to make it Canada. We like a denser doughnut.
Flynn- What display? Their doughnut presence has been steadily eroding for years, replaced by sandwiches, biscuits, and other non-fried dough.
They don’t sell fancies, or even SUGAR TWISTS anymore. Where the hell is one to go to get a Bearclaw, damn it?
Where I am there are more Timmy’s then any other food chain, the next being McDonalds. The fact that it’s the only major food chain to survive inside the no man’s land we call the downtown mall is also no small accomplishment since there are three more Timmy’s surrounding that one. Also doesn’t help that around here it’s in almost every town, so you’ll always find at least 1.
None- The only thing that nears the ubiquity of Tim Hortons is the Beer Store.
Gotcha. It’s like Winchell’s in Los Angeles.
Overly-sweet donuts and bad coffee, but the same damned overly-sweet donuts and bad coffee eaten by absolutely everyone in LA since at least the late ’50s.
Tim Horton’s is my #1 reason to go to Canada, just for the maple donuts. They are all I want to eat for the rest of my natural life, which would be considerably shorter and more pleasant on the all-maple-donut diet.
NCallahan: Speaking with someone with inside knowledge (IE: Relatives who work for the company), it’s because the US headquarters for Tim’s after they got purchased by Wendy’s is located in a Columbus Suburb, so they basically took over the entire Columbus market at the US launch – driving pretty much every other Donut chain (Dunkin, KK, etx) out.
On the plus side, this also means I can get Tim’s hot apple cider any time I want to. On the downside it means the nearest Dunkin Donuts is over 30 minutes away.
My mid-western Ontario town of about 22000 has at least seven Tim Hortons, one of which is in a hospital. There’s another little town very near us that would not exist if it weren’t for it’s Tim Hortons. Seriously, it was, like, built around, or something. It’s downright bizarre.
I guess here in Minnesota we can’t have large chain doughnut stores, at least not the ones mentioned. (It’s okay with me; I’m more of a bagel person.)
Tim’s is a reminder to Canadians that we’re all the same, deep down…
Never have truer words been spoken, my man.
…
I think I’d kill a man for a IcedCap right now. Or at least maim him.
Travelling across southern Ontario on family trips (Buffalo to Detroit is faster via Canada than cutting south, plus, rolling through Ontario means no Cleveland), we’d always be amazed at the sheer density of Tim Hortonses, even in the middle of fuck-all nowhere.
Nothing on the radio but crop reports, no other roads but the highway in sight…but there, in the distance…another Tim Horton’s Donuts. Amazing.
I think the other factor is that they are *everywhere*. And because you know Tim Horton’s is always going to be a good stand-by, when you’re on a road trip or just heading somewhere that takes a few hours to get to, it’s reassuring to know you can always top there for coffee or a bite to eat.
I wish Tim Horton’s every success in their move into New York. If only I could get them to move to Scotland. I bloody love them.
Packerchu: Oh,Tim’s sells bagels too. They’ve been expanding in the past years into sandwiches and even snack wraps.
On the Krispy Kreme subject:
A few years ago, my wife was reading a website which listed which food items at various fast food places were vegetarian or vegan. When it came to Krispy Kreme doughnuts, they were forced to give up, as their analysis discovered so many chemicals in them that they couldn’t reasonably determine the origin or makeup of them all.
“There’s more now, but Tim’s is far from thick on the ground in B.C. even in 2009.”
I live in a town of 4,986 . . . and we’re a three Timmy town.
I was lucky enough to grow up with them being pretty omnipresent in Buffalo. It always feels weird, since I’ve moved away, to not have one near by available to get some always palatable food on the cheap.
Maybe a closer analogy would be something like Coca Cola? Everyone drinks it, from the poor dude on the street to the president. And they all drink the same formula, pretty much, whether it be regular, diet, zero, cherry, whathaveyou. It’s not like wine or chocolate or something, where there’s a clear distinction in quality, though they are technically the same type of food.
“Tim’s is far from thick on the ground in B.C. even in 2009.”
Actually, this used to be the case, but the “even in 2009” part is less than accurate. The last couple of years has seen a big push into this area, with bunch of standalone stores (Vancouver Tims used to all be kiosk things in gas station convenience stores) opening. I was startled by the one on Dunbar, by the liquor store there, that suddenly appeared, along with the one on Broadway and Fir, a couple downtown, and an even stronger proliferation in the burbs.
Even before this, I relied on the gas-station-kiosk version near the office pretty consistently when I was working; that’s the era (1999-2005) where I really remember telling people who’d moved here from back east that they had to check certain gas stations for their Tims fix around here.
Well, it’s still just a handful compared to, say, what White Spot used to have going on. Hmm, okay, maybe a double handful. But Andrew W., you’re right — I can’t presume to speak for all of B.C., and I’m betting once you get out of the Lower Mainland Tim’s is quite a bit more ready to hand. Well, the whole idea (as I understand it) is “hey, wouldn’t it be nice to have a place to stop for coffee on the highway?”
My mid-western Ontario town of about 22000 has at least seven Tim Hortons, one of which is in a hospital.
Charlottetown has at least that, I believe; there are four main ones (two of them merged with Wendy’s). The cops have recently been trying to shoe people away from one of them because of all the traffic congestion it causes in the morning.
Britain has the pub, France the cafe, the US the coffee shop, but Canada has the doughnut shop Every culture has some version of it. Tim Horton’s, possibly because it was originally owned by a pro hockey player who died in tragic circumstances – do Tim’s still have portraits of him in every shop? I haven’t been in the old country for a while – simply became the dominant shop. Out west we used to have Robin’s Doughnuts before the Eastern might of Tim rolled in.
Another important thing to consider is that Tim’s, like all proper doughnut shops, is open 24 hours, which is very important for post gig/bar come downs, when pancake houses are not always easily available due to not being in a fit state to drive yet.
And Krispy Kreme? Those aren’t doughnuts. They are very delicious, but they aren’t doughnuts. They are some sort of moist cake thing in a ring shape
And I should note, Tim Horton’s is also trying to expand to the UK right now – the doughnuts, or a sad approximation at least – are available at the Spar off license/petrol station chain.
As an American that was introduced to Tim Horton after they took over the Bess Eaton franchise on the East Coast. I am excited to see three of them in my home town.
The problem is Dunky Dunks is so ingrained into people here that they can’t see what is so good about Tim Hortons. Personally I hate Dunkin Doughnuts coffee and food. So most Americans have gotten used to the crap and can’t comprehended the good stuff.
It’s very true. And I think part of it is the fact that every Canadian, while on a long road trip, tends to view a Tim Hortons on the horizon as a sacred oasis. It’s simply *the* place to stop, no matter who you are, even if the coffee is watery and the donuts subpar. It’s just what you want. Another part of it is probably the fact that the gloop that makes up an Iced Capp is probably at least 10 per cent crack cocaine.
Oh, and for the record, my Central Ontario hometown of 75,000 has, I believe, 13 Timmies.
I’m from New York. There’s a Tim’s about thirty minutes from my house, and if I’m in the area I always enjoy going there. Their cider has made several mediocre days bright!
I hope they franchise into Australia! Our donut situation is critical. Krispy Kreme has killed all other donut places (at least in NSW). And I don’t really like KK’s
I need to stop reading Canadian blogs. Just when I’m feeling OK with not going back to Canada for at least another 6 months, someone has to remind me that I would happily kill a man for just one more fruit explosion muffin.
yeah Dunkin Donuts in New England. or beer in Australia
Dunkies also killed Krispy Kreme in Massachusetts — they did the big open, with four or five stores including a subway kiosk, and all of them closed within two years.
Tim’s is simply the king of Canadian coffee shops.
Starbucks and Second Cup are too expensive, Coffee Time and Country Style taste terrible.
Tim’s is a nice middle of the road alternative, that satisfies most and offends no one.
Krispy Kreme’s Canadian division ultimately went bankrupt due to a complete failure to understand the Canadian doughnut culture. They set up one store per city, expecting people to come from miles around. I live 60 km north of where our Krispy Kreme was located, and there are three Timmies in my town – where am I going to go when I have a doughnut craving? It’s not just per capita density, but accessability: Timmies has portable Atco-type trailers that they send out to the oil fields. They sent trailers and staff to Afghanistan so troops could have their double-doubles. KK expected people to flock to them; Timmies goes out to you (heck, I’m almost surprised they don’t have delivery.) One KK per city? – yeahhhhhh no.
But it isn’t just brand loyalty that makes a culture. It’s little things, psychological things. It is, as has been pointed out, a great equaliser. In any Timmies’ drive-through line-up, you find everything from gleaming Beemers to mud-splattered 1980s pick-ups. It fills a niche: When you need a quick energy shot of caffiene and sugar, you know there’s a Timmies around somewhere. Many of the gas stations have a small Timmies drive-through, with a long line of semis, holiday-drivers and business drivers. But even deeper in the Canadian psyche are the childhood memories. How many of us remember some cherished teacher, babysitter, school bus driver (aunt, uncle, etc…) buying a box of Timmies for everyone to share? It forms part of our foundation memories, it’s founded in hockey (our national religion), and it’s always *there*, just around the corner, offering a nutritious, satisfying lunch, palatable caffiene (in the format of your choice; I loathe coffee but gimme a steeped tea double-double milk please), palatable sugar boost and clean lavatories – Timmies is comforting. The big deal isn’t about the products, but about the way we’ve come to feel about them.
“Tim’s is far from thick on the ground in B.C. even in 2009.”
That’s no longer the case outside the Lower Mainland. Kelowna has at least ten, twelve if you include Westbank. The outlet at UBC Okanagan is consistently lined up outside the door when classes are in session.
Vancouver long ago developed the taste for high-end coffee that Seattle invented (a city where the guys with the portable street carts sell espresso rather than hot dogs) — hence two Starbucks on two corners at Robson and Thurlow. That may have something to do with the lack of Tims: most of my coffee drinking years have been in Van and Seattle, and I can’t drink Tims, because yeah, the coffee is pretty lousy by comparison.
But fruit explosion muffin? Gooood. Apple fritter? Gooooooooood.
Can somebody just explain to me why there needs to be 14 pickup trucks and SUVs with motors running lined up at the drive-thru window when there are three customers inside?
I know everyone’s saying it, but I don’t see how you can call Timmy’s density in the lower mainland anything at all below high. I admit, they aren’t as common as they should be downtown(Theres a chain called blenz coffee that has something like 50 stores in vancouver proper, which is more than every other place in the world they have combined, strangely they have shops in a bunch of other countries like random places in europe and japan), but I would guess that’s just because they cant buy enough good places to open stores, theres a quite frankly ridiculous number of coffee shops downtown, ive seen corners where all 4 sides are coffee shops. Whenever I go downtown with friends we play a game where we find starbucks, tim hortons, and blenz coffee because their placement can be so goddamned ridiculous at times. There is at least one corner with 2 blenx and a starbucks.
Tim Horton’s concessions have recently started popping up in petrol stations etc around me in Northern Ireland, sadly only stocking a limited selection of standard doughnuts. No sign of any dedicated stores as yet, but perhaps they will be the next step in the annexation of our province?