Soon this popular Canadian logo will be seen across more locations across the United States.
PHOTO BY SHUMU HAQUE
By Shumu Haque
Tim Horton’s, which continues to expand in Canada, is also looking to spread in the market south of the border, a report said Thursday.
“We have gained a solid foothold in the U.S. market, which promises to be the next wave of growth for our company,” Paul House, the company’s CEO shared its plans for expansion in United States in a meeting for analysts and retailers in New York City on Wednesday, the Toronto Star reported.
In the past five years, the number of Tim Horton’s outlets in the U.S. has doubled and now it has 804 stores in the country.
The Star reported that “at the end of 2012 there were 3,436 Tim Hortons restaurants in Canada. Tim Hortons research has shown there is room for about 4,000. It plans to build 160 to 180 new stores in Canada in 2013. ”
South of the border, the donut chain has the highest concentration of outlets in New York, Ohio and Michigan.
“They are expanding in the border states, and they are trying to get the attention of cross-border shoppers, as we (Canadians) love Tim Horton’s. The crowd effect of these border shoppers will draw the other customers in,” Christine McCaw, program coordinator of marketing at Humber College said.
Other Canadian companies similar to Tim Horton’s may be watching this move by the chain very carefully and follow the example if it’s successful, McCaw said.
“I think there’s going to be a ‘watch and wait’. Because Canadians tend to be more conservative, we would like to know if we are welcomed when we get to that market, so there will be a lot of eyes on this strategy to see how it pans out,” she said.
“Our strategy is to really focus our capital resources on our most developed markets where we already have a solid presence,” Cynthia Devine, chief financial officer of Tim Horton’s said in the Star report.
“A higher density of restaurants in a particular city increases the convenience for our guests and enables us to use our advertising spend more efficiently,” she said.
According to the CBC, “There are more doughnut shops per capita in Canada than anywhere else on the planet. Canadians eat more doughnuts than any other country’s citizens.”