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Eat & Drink

vidTO: The Explosion of Tim Horton's

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / December 14, 2007

7 Comments

Canadians are donut and coffee addicts. Did you know that the Tim Horton's coffee and donut shop chain originated in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964? Did you also know that Toronto didn't have any franchises in the early days because Toronto was a so obviously "a land of fern bars and quiche"?

Check out this retro mini-documentary (circa early 90's) that is full of unintentionally humourous moments, and hosted by a Hamilton Spectator columnist Paul Wilson (a fellow that, in this video, couldn't look any more like Paul Bunyan if he tried).

Leap ahead to 2007, where the chain is now everywhere you turn in Toronto, and in cities across Canada (over 2750 locations) and even in the United States (over 350 locations). If you ever catch me going to a Tim Horton's anywhere, for "entertainment", please shoot me!

Maps that further demostrate the Tim Horton's phenomenon after the jump...

Toronto Tim Horton'sTim Horton's in the Toronto area (2007)

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North America Tim Horton'sTim Horton's in North America (2007)

Screencaps from findbyclick.com

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Chester Pape / December 14, 2007 at 06:08 pm
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When I lived and worked in the hammer that was my coffee stop on the way to work. Stopped in there about 18 months ago, Florence still works there.
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Alistair Morton / December 14, 2007 at 08:47 pm
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mmm quiche.
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Mr. Crack / December 15, 2007 at 01:38 am
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All those Tim Horton's...
and there is absolutely no Tim Horton's in Parkdale (the lower-centre area of the map with no red dots around).
There is actually 5 Coffee Time's before you can find 1 Tim Hortons, so I think that speaks volumes of the 'hood.

Coffee Time is Anytime, And Anytime is Crack Dealing Time Inside a Coffee Time!
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Jerrold / December 15, 2007 at 02:20 pm
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You can get a Tim's coffee in the Yukon and in he Northwest Territories, but not in Parkdale? LOL. Sounds like a franchise opportunity.
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Jerrold / December 15, 2007 at 02:31 pm
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Oh, and I sure hope Florence gets a seriously attractive pension - that's some serious dedication. She STILL works at the location of the original store? Amazing.
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juepucta / December 16, 2007 at 12:47 am
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I still can't figure out the appeal of this place, after 5 years in Canada. I mean the pastries are decent, some sandwiches are alright, the chili is kinda good - BUT man the coffee is absolute shit. Dismal, sweet dirty water; vanilla milk or something. But that is the main reason people keep going to Tim's for.

Beats me.

-G.
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Mohsin Abbas / December 18, 2007 at 09:49 am
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It's honour to work with The Hamilton Spectator.
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