Reverse From Expected.

Tim Hortons dominates the take out coffee business in Canada.  There are more than 3500 outlets in Canada, and that number continues to grow.  So it's kind of odd to think of one shutting down, but that's exactly what happened to one of Saskatoon's Hortons.  Driving by on the weekend I noticed that the sign had been removed from the front of the store at 8th Street and Acadia Drive.  A visit this morning proved my suspicions were correct.  A small sign announced it was permanently closed as of December 1st, and there was someone who was removing chairs from the restaurant. 

This was one of the oldest Hortons locations in Saskatoon.  I'm not sure if it was the first, but it was definitely amongst the first.  In a way it's surprising it stayed around this long, as another Hortons is a short walk away at 8th Street and Moss.  The store was renovated a few years ago, but apparently that wasn't enough.  One of the disadvantages it had was that it had no drive through, unlike other stand alone Hortons.  The one on Moss Avenue does, meaning it generates a lot more revenue.  On the other hand I could imagine a Hortons kiosk going into the nearby Centre mall at some point, as it would be unlikely to steal customers from the 8th and Moss outlet.

At the moment the Tim Hortons website lists 26 Saskatoon stores, but one of those is the one that just closed. 

Well Supplied.

If you're planning on visiting Saskatoon and are worried about getting your Tim Hortons fix, don't be.  Saskatoon currently has 21 different Hortons outlets.  And we'll soon have a symetrical number of them, as a new downtown location will open early next year on 22nd Street.  Non-Saskatoon readers may be surprised to learn that this will be the first Hortons outlet downtown.   For whatever reason no one set one up in the city centre until now, the closest being the outlet on 33rd Street just across from Kelsey Institute.   And there are also rumours that if the city ever gets around to building a new 23td Street bus mall it may contain a Hortons kiosk.

Given our population this works out to roughly one Hortons store per 10,000 people.  And if you go to some outlets at certain times of the day it seems like every one of that 10,000 will soon pass through the doors.

As for the donut competition?  There are still 5 Robin's Donuts outlets, the chain that previously dominated the Saskatoon market before Hortons moved in.  Country Style once had a presense here but it is long gone.  There was no indication that Krispy Creme ever planned to set up shop here during their ultimately disastrous attempt to enter the Canadian market.  Dunkin' Donuts have no stores here. 

Given the number of food posts I've written of late perhaps this blog should have a temporary "Reading this may make you hungry" warning.

The Horror.

Tim Hortons has increased the price of its donuts. With tax they're now 90 cents a piece, an increase of 6 cents. At that price if you buy one donut a week you'll be paying an extra $3.12 over the course of a year. I'm sure it will cost them customers.

One or two at least.

One On Every Corner?

It sometimes seems like a Tim Hortons outlet is a license to print money. Of course it costs a lot of money to acquire one, a potential franchisee needing to shell out close to half a million before opening the doors. The latest Saskatoon Hortons opened today on 8th Street and Moss Avenue. Yet surprisingly just a couple of blocks away the existing Hortons at 8th and Acadia Drive is still in operation. You'd think they'd be too close together to both continue, and I can't help but speculate that the Acadia outlet only remains open because they still have a lease on the space, and that they will close when said lease expires.

In any case it's not hard to see why a new Hortons is needed in this area. The old outlet does not have a drive through lane and there is no way to install one given its location at one end of a small strip mall adjacent to another strip mall. Go into the Acadia store for much of the day and you'll stand in line for a good while, something having a drive through would reduce, although not entirely. The Hortons at 8th and Cumberland has a drive through, yet you can still end up waiting in line for a good while inside. The drive through is popular enough to cause traffic problems at that corner, which is something that hopefully won't happen at the Moss location.