I guess scarcity is a relative term. I can name 3 situations in my city alone were I can see a Tim Horton's from another Tim Horton's.
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Yeah, there's more than 3,000 locations accross Canada. More locations than McDonalds, even. Then again, there's something like 11,000 Starbucks accross the US, so maybe that's what jwouk means.
But finding a Tim Horton's in Canada, at least throughout where 90% of the population resides, is as easy as finding porn on the internet. I read earlier this year that 96% of coffees sold in Canada (ie: not homebrewed), are sold at Tim Horton's. This is why they are trying to expand internationally, and why they're focusing on expanding their menus in Canada rather than adding new stores. with 96% of the market already cornered, they can't expand further in Canada. I'm not sure how they did their research so I'm sure there is a margin of error there, but unless the margin of error is like 30%, that number is mindblowing.
4% of the coffee in Canada is sold by Starbucks, On the Go, Coffee Time, Country Style, Java Stop, Krispy Kreme, McDonalds, and every other restaurant or cafe you can think of. 96% is Tim Hortons. Its insane.
I also remember reading, back when Tim Hortons was owned by Wendy's that when Dave Thomas died Wendy's had a really bad year and only turned a profit that year because of Tim Horton's; which had even less of a presence in the States then than it does now.
Honestly, I think its largely because it was started by a Canadian NHL player, and very quickly and successfully attached itself to that tradition. So it was already there in the 70s, a time when the Canadian identity was suddenly a very important ideal, (see: The Cold War, The Summit Series, SCTV, the Canadian Content Law). So it quickly managed to engrain itself into Canadiana. All this before Starbucks and Coffee Time were even on the scene. The fact that it beat Starbucks and Coffee Time to the Canadian market by nearly twenty years helps too. After a certain point, its really nothing to do with quality, its just blind dedication because its been there so long, its just an inescapable part of the Canadian landscape.
Its kind of like the dedication to Molson and Labatts you encounter throughout most of Canada.
But finding a Tim Horton's in Canada, at least throughout where 90% of the population resides, is as easy as finding porn on the internet. I read earlier this year that 96% of coffees sold in Canada (ie: not homebrewed), are sold at Tim Horton's. This is why they are trying to expand internationally, and why they're focusing on expanding their menus in Canada rather than adding new stores. with 96% of the market already cornered, they can't expand further in Canada. I'm not sure how they did their research so I'm sure there is a margin of error there, but unless the margin of error is like 30%, that number is mindblowing.
4% of the coffee in Canada is sold by Starbucks, On the Go, Coffee Time, Country Style, Java Stop, Krispy Kreme, McDonalds, and every other restaurant or cafe you can think of. 96% is Tim Hortons. Its insane.
I also remember reading, back when Tim Hortons was owned by Wendy's that when Dave Thomas died Wendy's had a really bad year and only turned a profit that year because of Tim Horton's; which had even less of a presence in the States then than it does now.
Honestly, I think its largely because it was started by a Canadian NHL player, and very quickly and successfully attached itself to that tradition. So it was already there in the 70s, a time when the Canadian identity was suddenly a very important ideal, (see: The Cold War, The Summit Series, SCTV, the Canadian Content Law). So it quickly managed to engrain itself into Canadiana. All this before Starbucks and Coffee Time were even on the scene. The fact that it beat Starbucks and Coffee Time to the Canadian market by nearly twenty years helps too. After a certain point, its really nothing to do with quality, its just blind dedication because its been there so long, its just an inescapable part of the Canadian landscape.
Its kind of like the dedication to Molson and Labatts you encounter throughout most of Canada.
ElJuski
Staff member
The Tim Horton Triangle Effect. I heard about it once in science class.
A donut shop is such a shitty thing to base cultural identity on.
I don't disagree by any stretch. But I think Canada was grasping for straws during that time to find its culture, and that's why our cultural identity is based pretty much solely around stereotypes Americans gave us.
fade
Staff member
That's the way Dunkin' Donuts was in Boston. I can think of several places where this is true there. Despite being called "Dunkin' Donuts", they seemed to sell more coffee than anything else.
I don't think we even have Dunkin' Donuts up here anymore.
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