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VIDEOCompanies That Almost Weren't: Tim Hortons
By
Scott Reeves Dec 11, 2009 8:25 am
Burger not spoken here.
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Rebounds are often derided as “garbage goals” by hockey purists, but Horton, a member of the NHL Hall of Fame, got his business plan right after an initial flop -- and with a lot of help from friends.
Today’s entrepreneurial tip: Don’t go head-to-head with the industry leader. Horton first opened a string of hamburger restaurants in North Bay, Ontario, and the Toronto metropolitan area, but quickly discovered that he couldn’t compete with McDonald’s (MCD). He soon embraced another idea: coffee and doughnuts.
Horton partnered with investor Ron Joyce and opened the first restaurant serving sugary treats with coffee in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964. That’s hockey country and branding the chain as Tim Hortons (THI) was great marketing because he was a star at the prime of his career. (At that time, even star players needed to supplement their hockey incomes. Just before getting into the doughnut business, Horton worked at a car dealership.)
Joyce provided the financial savvy, but a man named Jim Charade, the owner of a small and failing Toronto doughnut store, was first to suggest that Horton launch a coffee and doughnut chain. Charade was sure the hockey player's name would help make a doughnut shop famous.
“It wasn’t Tim Horton. It wasn’t Ron Joyce. It was Jim,” Joyce told The Globe and Mail after learning of Charade’s death last July. “Jim was … behind the concept. He doesn’t get enough credit, but I have always acknowledged him. Without him, it never would have happened.”The first Tim Hortons opened at the site of an old gas station in Hamilton, Ontario, about 60 miles from Buffalo, New York. Coffee cost $0.25 a cup and doughnuts were $0.69 a dozen. The combination was an immediate hit and the business quickly expanded.
Horton wasn’t around much, especially during hockey season -- and didn’t need to be. His name brought instant recognition and credibility to the project.
Horton grew up in a mining town in northern Ontario. He played hockey as a kid and at 17 his skills caught the eye of a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played his first NHL game in 1950 and became a regular two years later.
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