When Burger King purchased Canada’s Tim Hortons chain in August 2014, for $11.4 billion, it made it one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the world, with more than 19,000 stores, 4,600 of the “Timi’s” as they are called in Canada, located in more than 100 countries.
Since that acquisition, Canada’s favorite coffee and doughnut shops have been introduced to more and more places in the U.S., and now Minnesota is on the list of places the chain wants to expand into, with Grand Marais mentioned as a possibility for a new location.
With that said, when Cook County Chamber of Commerce Director Jim Boyd was recently contacted by a reporter from the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal asking him if he thought Grand Marais would make a good location for a Tim Hortons, Boyd replied that some people in town would probably like to see a Tim Hortons here, while others would certainly be opposed.
He added that he wouldn’t want the local World’s Best Donuts to be hurt by a Tim Hortons move to Grand Marais, and said if one were to come into Cook County, the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino would likely be the best location because it is visited daily by so many Canadians.
“I was speaking totally hypothetically,” Boyd said.
On June 9, 2016, Restaurant Brands International, Tim Hortons’ parent company, signed a deal with Bloomington, Minnesota’s Restaurant Development Partners Corp. who are looking to sell Tim Hortons franchises across the state. Currently the company has two restaurants in Minnesota, one at Fortune Bay Resort and Casino near Tower, and one at Star Casino near Mahnomen.
Tim Hortons is more than a place to pick up coffee and doughnuts. It also sells specialty teas, fruit smoothies, fresh baked goods, grilled Panani and classic sandwiches, wraps, soups, prepared foods and other products.
A standard Tim Hortons restaurant is 1,776 square feet in size and serves breakfast and lunch.
According to the website, the cost of a Tim Hortons franchise varies depending upon the restaurant size and location, along with other factors, but interested parties must have a net worth of $1.5 million and $500,000 in liquid assets to qualify. Potential owners also must be committed to the business full time, divest of any business that would compete with Tim Hortons, and preferably have food service and/or restaurant operations experience.
Attempts to learn more about the possibility of a franchise moving to Grand Marais failed when Restaurant Development Partners Corp. did not answer inquiries before press time.
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