Tim Hortons is as iconic to Canada as saying “eh”! When I traveled for business, I could always count on a Timmies being somewhere within reach for my daily dose of caffeine. In the town my kids grew up in, for a population of 25,000, there are six Tim Hortons – guess we needed a double, double no matter what part of town we found ourselves.
But how many people know the history behind the brand? We all know about the hockey player that started it, but do we know the rise of a one location coffee shop in downtown Hamilton that grew to an international java jolt?
This book follows the marketing ideas of Ron Buist over his 24 years at Tim Hortons. Many of the things we’ve come to love about Tim’s, was Ron’s creative push to make a small, localized shop into a national brand. Roll up the Rim was the most successful marketing campaign coming out of Buist’s office. After a few iterations of the idea, we are still “rolling” it up!
Is your local store company owned or a franchise? This concept divided the company for some time with the Horton family coming into some conflict with the new owners. Then there was the conflict between the company and some of its franchise owners. Then there was the sale to an international conglomerate. But through it all, we stayed loyal to our cup of coffee, even with others trying to get a corner on the market.
Tim Horton had a great affection for children and he tried to use his notoriety to inspire youth. After his death, his business partner Ron Joyce founded the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation. This charity now runs camps for children that would otherwise never get a chance to experience camp life, skill training and leadership opportunities. Tim would be proud! https://timscamps.com/
My favourite drink (after my medium coffee, 2 milk, ½ sugar) is Tim’s Iced Coffee. So I tried replicating it at home. Find my version of the drink in our Recipe section. Play with the ingredients until you get it right for your taste. Then have a box of TimBits ready to pair with your drink.
Want to order a copy of the book? Go to https://gooselane.com/products/tales-from-under-the-rim?_pos=1&_sid=e4a110955&_ss=r or head over to our Giveaway section to win a copy!
Contents and images used with permission by Goose Lane Editions. https://gooselane.com/
