The Canadian Invasion
A Tim Horton's in Calgary, Alberta; could your town be next? (wikimedia)
Back in April I said “somehow Tim Horton’s can be very popular in Canada but not make it big in the states.” And today I read on the Planet Money blog:
By now, you’ve probably already heard about the big Canadian news of the week: Tim Hortons, the venerable Canadian coffee-and-donuts-shop, expanded into New York City, opening 12 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn on Monday. More locations are coming to the city in August.
Apparently Tim Horton’s is already pretty popular in some Canada-proximate parts of the country such as Detroit and Buffalo. And if you want to keep your eye on the creeping Canadification of the American economy note that the “TD” in “TD Bank” stands for “Toronto-Dominion.”
43 Responses to “The Canadian Invasion”
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July 18th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Matt, Tim Hortons isn’t “pretty popular” in the Buffalo area. Tim Hortons is absolutely ubiquitous, and a cultural staple, in the Buffalo area.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:20 am
There was a Tim Horton’s in my hometown in the South a good ten years before we got a Starbucks. They could pave the parking lot with gold. There are still a lot more Americans who drink coffee who think Starbucks is a dumb place to go than otherwise. They just don’t live in Manhattan or DC.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I hear that there are long waiting lines at Tim Horton’s, and that the customer only has two donut choices: plain and extra-plain.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
The Tim Horton’s in New York will be managed by the Riese Group, which are known for operating the chains they run horribly. They are the reason chain restaurants in New York tend to be even more dingy and depressing than the same chains elsewhere.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Canadian interests can invade the US all they want, goodness knows our own interests haven’t done a stellar job. Just as long as I don’t have to buy my milk in bags. I’ll take up arms to defend my country against that.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:35 am
RBC is the Royal Bank of Canada. I notice they’ve got their name on the arena where the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey.
Bank of Montreal uses the Harris Bank name in the US.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Don’t forget Thomson Reuters: Thomson being a canadian media/oil baron turned giant pile of money that doesn’t know what to do with itself, but is very intent on getting it’s name in front of NPR listeners.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:52 am
TD goes by “TD Canada Trust” in Canada. The “Toronto-Dominion” part is rarely said, and most people around here probably don’t know what it stands for. I guess the “Canada” part, though, is pretty obvious.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:54 am
What about the seemingly innocuous “CIBC”? It actually stands for “Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce”!!! Why are Americans standing by and allowing the penetration of their financial and banking sectors by foreign imperialists?!
July 18th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Wendy’s owned some or all of Tim Horton’s for a while around 2000, and they started expanding toward the southwest from Ohio. But they never made a real go of it outside the Canadian border areas, which is a real shame because TH is about 837 times better than Krispy Kreme.
Cranky
July 18th, 2009 at 10:57 am
(Only because this is Matt Y’s blog…)
So does a Dominion bank have Jem’Hadar security guards and Vorta tellers?
/nerd
July 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am
So does a Dominion bank have Jem’Hadar security guards and Vorta tellers?
HA!
July 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
They are now ubiquitous in Dayton, Ohio, as well.
Despite being a much larger city and close, Cincinnati doesn’t have any.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
It seems that everything Toronto Dominion buys gets rebranded with the “TD” logo. Canada Trust, the venerable Canadian S&L, was rebranded TD Canada Trust. In the U.S., other examples are TD Ameritrade and a bunch of banks in the Northeast that carry the TD logo. They just keep creeping in, sorta like bind weed and crab grass.
Incidentally, I like milk in a bag. It does take getting use to, but it certainly cuts down on the packaging.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:13 am
this is really sinister.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
There has been a Tim Hortons in my old home town in Southern Ohio for about tens years. It was terrible when we stopped there last year, it is the only game in town for speciality coffee-no Starbucks.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:19 am
“They are now ubiquitous in Dayton, Ohio, as well.
Despite being a much larger city and close, Cincinnati doesn’t have any.”
I live in Cincinnati and I’m eagerly waiting for them to open up here. My family lives in Michigan and they are all over the state (especially the eastern half).
A good comparison would be Dunkin Doughnuts without the espresso, with better coffee and food. I could see it catching on in the states.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Canadian doughnuts, Mexican pizza-where are Glen Beck & Lou Dobbs when you need them?
July 18th, 2009 at 11:54 am
I hear that there are long waiting lines at Tim Horton’s, and that the customer only has two donut choices: plain and extra-plain.
Good concept. I think I would’ve pushed the gag to ridiculous proportions though, like: “you have to wait six months to buy donuts in Canada, and then the government tells you what kind of donuts you can get.”
July 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Rather humorous stuff.
Although I do think I would point out that the names of Canadian banks are essentially heritage of the British Empire. Toronto-Dominion, for example, was a reference to Canada’s name, which used to be the Dominion of Canada. And Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was a merger of a bunch of banks, one of which referred to the British Empire. Royal Bank of Canada is self-explanatory.
And, about that Krispy Kreme vs. Tim Hortons debate: I am firmly on the side of Krispy Kreme. Nothing beats good ‘ole Southern food! The South, baby!
July 18th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Probably a more insteresting name is HSBC, which expands to Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation, although they now simply use HSBC.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I’m pretty sure I’ve been to that to Tim Horton’s, and yesterday I met this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Dore while buying a shirt. But, I will never, ever, drink milk from a bag.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
….the creeping Canadification of the American economy
Better “Canadification” than the “Moonification” of the ’70s!
BTW, Tim Horton’s is hugely popular here in Maine too.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
TD bank are currently in discussions with the New York authorities to NOT have screens between the tellers and the customers. They say it makes them safer.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Aren’t not the Thomsons gone the Conrad Black route and become British Lords? Hopefully end up like Conrad Black, too.
As a law librarian, I always ask my West, a Thomson Reuters busines ™, sales rep.: “How is Baron Thomson of Fleet doing?”
July 18th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
How long before New Yorkers start ordering all their coffees as a “double-double” and peeling up the lips of their cups to see if they’ve won a prize?
Hopefully this is all just an elaborate plan by the US Gov’t to lure out all the alien Canadians that walk amongst us undetected.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
“Like maple syrup, Canada’s evil oozes over the United States.“
July 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I’ll never eat another chain-made donut.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Is that a Hummer at the drive-thru window in that photo? Must be good if that guy drove all the way up from the states.
July 18th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Let’s not forget ScotiaBank, which is sneaking into your country under the harmless guise of Scottishness. But that’s Scotia as in “Nova,” as in “New,” as in “Cover your assets Yanks; we’re comin’ for ‘em!”
July 18th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I hope the Canadian health care system is massed behind the forward elements of the invasion -ready to envelop.
July 18th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
We have Tim Horton’s in Rhode Island. They took over Bess Eaton donuts a while back. I haven’t heard how the stores are doing profit wise, but Krispy Kreme wasn’t quite ready for action in prime Dunkin’ country, so I doubt TH’s is either.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Tim’s offers many more choices than plain and extra-plain although Bland is the true Great Canadian Flavour.
Re: TD, the Bruins and Celts play in the TD Garden.
TD owns and operates BankNorth in New England.
And keep buying Blackberries, folks. We can use the dough.
Other great Canuck brands include Diana Krall, Celine Dion, Neil Young, Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morrissette, Cirque du Soleil, The Band (4/5), Shania Twain and others.
Look out Uncle Sam, we’re comin’ for ya!
July 18th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Southern California is proudly free of corporate domination of our donut landscape. Dunkin has no presence here, there are only a few Krispy Kremes left, no Tim Horton’s, and the remaining chains (Winchell’s, Yum Yum, etc.) are relatively small. They’re around, but they don’t dominate the market. We have dozens and dozens of mom-and-pop donut shops, often run by Cambodian or Chinese immigrants. Yummy!
Oh, and in California, a Double-Double is a hamburger, not coffee.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Aren’t not the Thomsons gone the Conrad Black route and become British Lords? Hopefully end up like Conrad Black, too.
As a law librarian, I always ask my West, a Thomson Reuters busines ™, sales rep.: “How is Baron Thomson of Fleet doing?”
Make that the Rt. Hon. 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet, of Northbridge in the City of Edinburgh.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
i’m canadian. canadian banks are among the safest. also tim hortons is an awful restaurant. where i live (victoria BC) it’s all starbucks, the tim hortons don’t start popping up until you get rural. also i wish i could find milk in a bag but i can’t seem to.
oh, and johnnyk, celine dion, shania twain and avril lavigne are not great canadian exports. they’re revenge for soft wood tariffs.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I for one welcome the Tim Hortonization of America. It is one of my favorite things about having a Canadian girlfriend.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Yay! TD is my bank, and I actually like it (despite not normally liking banks). Hard to dislike them when they give me a free account so long as I’m a student.
Makes sense that they’d be expanding into the States, especially given how messed up all the American banks are now.
July 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
oh, and johnnyk, celine dion, shania twain and avril lavigne are not great canadian exports. they’re revenge for soft wood tariffs.
fawkes, Celine D. is revenge for a whole lot of sins, I htink we could get the War of 1812 in there, too.
BTW, I’m behind the tweed curtain myself (local joke folks)
July 20th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Wake up, people! Donuts are just the beginning of a well planned attack to make Americans (even) fatter!
The second wave is codenamed: POUTINE.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
When you’ve got ‘em by the arteries their hearts and minds will follow….
July 20th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Hopefully that won’t become the Canadian version of Krispy Kreme (too fast, too soon).
July 25th, 2009 at 4:52 am
If it tastes good, why not?
May the best tasting doughnut win.