Tim Hortons

[d_fife]

Originally posted by d_fife
westbrook one (THERE ARE two not far from each other)

westbrook me

[d_fife]

Originally posted by d_fife

Originally posted by d_fife
westbrook one (THERE ARE two not far from each other)

westbrook me

westbrook me one

[d_fife]

the one in scarborough me on rt. 1

[Marc82]

They built that Tim Hortons in Plainville pretty fast. I was at that Walgreens in Plainville at the end of May 2006 and there was nothing next to it.

[d_fife]

tim horton's in auburn me on minot ave

[d_fife]

tim horton's in auburn me down the road form the mall

[d_fife]

tim horton's lewiston me near the promenade mall

[d_fife]

horton's in houlton me

[d_fife]

tim horton's in presque isle me

[d_fife]

caribou me one and the northernmost one the US and maine. they are #1 in canada.

[d_fife]

rockland one under construction as of may 23, 2006.

[cerealboxes]

Tim Horton's is like a virus here in Buffalo...there's one on every corner.  And the ones in north Buffalo and Tonawanda make intersections congested and because of that, very dangerous!  I'm probably the only one in Buffalo to say this but I prefer Krispy Kreme donuts.  They just taste better, and I know they're fresh.  Too bad we only have one Krispy Kreme left.

[d_fife]

Originally posted by cerealboxes
Tim Horton's is like a virus here in Buffalo...there's one on every corner.  And the ones in north Buffalo and Tonawanda make intersections congested and because of that, very dangerous!  I'm probably the only one in Buffalo to say this but I prefer Krispy Kreme donuts.  They just taste better, and I know they're fresh.  Too bad we only have one Krispy Kreme left.

yah I Saw like 2 in niagara falls and one in depew and many others, I saw a whole bunch there (buffalo) too, well it is because buffalo / niagara falls are near canada.

[Zayre88]

Tim Hortons in Skowhegan is still not ready to open... (aug. 26 2006)  I thought it would be quite easy to transform the Wendy's in no time!

[JimSawhill]

Originally posted by d_fife
tim horton's in vernon CT near the center of town

     Was that the old Bess Eaton store? It doesn't look like it!!

Jim

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Zayre88
Tim Hortons in Skowhegan is still not ready to open... (aug. 26 2006)  I thought it would be quite easy to transform the Wendy's in no time!

Something's wrong in Skowhegan...  They've been in the process of turning this former Wendy's into a Tim Horton's since late spring 2006.  It's still not open!!!  It looks ready to open with Tim signs all over, new drive-thru, new parking lot...  coming soon banners have been up since june...  

Meanwhile in Augusta, they built one from the ground up and it will really open soon!

[shakethis1234]

they want to expand to the syracuse area

[Scrabbleship]

Originally posted by shakethis1234
they want to expand to the syracuse area

That's gone around for a while. Question is after that where will they go? The four logical places--Springfield, Boston, Albany, and the suburbs of New York City are Dunkin strongholds. Would it be worth it to go into those places?

Probable situation: Springfield and Boston will get theirs and, like everything good, Albany will be a black hole, devoid of Timbits.:( The NYC suburbs could go either way.

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Zayre88
My local Tim Hortons, squeezed between Pizza Hut and a small shopping plaza.

Our newly opened Tim Hortons:  with the classic pylon sign like Houlton and Caribou above.

[Zayre88]

The new Tim Hortons in Augusta ME on Western ave:

[C. Fontaine]

It's pretty obvious that Tim Hortons rocks.  I go here every day before work.  I only hope one day they and Honey Dew bring down the evil Dunkin Donust regime plaguing our country.

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by C. Fontaine
It's pretty obvious that Tim Hortons rocks.  I go here every day before work.  I only hope one day they and Honey Dew bring down the evil Dunkin Donust regime plaguing our country.

In Canada, they're #1 while Dunkin's Donuts is losing ground.  They are truly better.  Our town used to have two Dunkin's, then Tim Horton's opened, Dunkin' closed a location and now Tim has two locations in town!

I've heard they have some problems in the U.S., mainly with former Bess Eaton locations.  Maybe they'll sell some locations.  They have a lot of work to do to get brand recognition in some areas.

[C. Fontaine]

Thats awesome! The US should be more lke Canada.  I hope once Tim Hortons expands in the US by storm, people will see the truth.  There are tons here in RI, and seem to have a firm hold on Dunkin Donuts.  I always liked Honey Dew, and Tim Hortons once I moved to RI because of their unique, non-mass-produced taste of coffee and home-town type service.  I go to Dunkin Donuts and in most locations the coffee is made with no effort.  Both in the pot and by the employee, and just has such a generic taste to it.  No offense to anyone who works there!

[XISMZERO]

Originally posted by C. FontaineI go to Dunkin Donuts and in most locations the coffee is made with no effort.  Both in the pot and by the employee, and just has such a generic taste to it.  No offense to anyone who works there!

We have a few Tim Hortons around here, but there's a heavy outweigh of Dunkin shops to go around. I'm not only a loyal DD customer but I'm also a night shift leader and I can agree that, if not made properly, coffee will come out poorly. This is likely due to laziness by often overworked or staff who can care less as coffee has a 18 minute shelf life for the glass pots and 45-1hr for the stainless steel "tanks" which seem to be on the rise at newer shops.

I always serve up customers right and treat them all with polite, upbeat and respectful attitudes because it's my job and and important reflection of my character. I just don't like being unhappy at my job no matter how insignificant it might seem to others. Sure, it's a job, pays for things and the like, but it fares better if done right. All you need is that one customer who comes in, sees you smiling or being enthusiastic, exchanges a few kind works and it helps you and the customer both.

I will admit that when I frequent some Dunkin shops, I've had problems mainly in simple common sense by the guy or gal behind the counter not to mix old and new brews which I've seen employees do often a few shops around here.

I've been to Tim Hortons (roughly the same drive away from the DD shop I go to) and I prefer Dunkin'. Why? Dunkin grinds their beans there on the fly with each brew. They've also got the best, widest selection of the most concentrated flavor shots unlike most other chains who serve sugar-laced sludge like McDonalds. Sure, DD doesn't brew flavors anymore, but they were pre-packs and the flavoring method of shots is the same formula that they once added to ground coffee now goes into the cup now. You can still buy the original flavor coffees (remarkably in bean format) if you must...

Hortons also uses pre-packs for their hot coffee, NOT grinds and let me tell you, there's a difference in their tastes when the coffee comes out fresh. Iced coffees at Dunkin are not ground-fresh brewed like hot are, but I can assure you (after experimenting one night), pre-pack for iced comes out better, more flavorful and full-bodied. I've tried Hortons Iced Coffee, and was disappointed (I drink black, the ultimate coffee taste test).  

I've found, however, that at Hortons, the staff is more inclined to be trained correctly and be more customer-oriented and dump 20 minute plus old coffees away to avoid serving bum pots as I'm usually treated better as a customer and never get nasty old coffees or mixed pots. I like that about them and I have yet to be served lousy coffee.

Let me also say that Horton's typically has a more well-versed, trained, and stocked staff running the show. Dunkin shops usually have either improperly trained people or slack bums running the joints. You might be too if you had to manage all that product at some times by yourself or by fewer people.

Despite all that's said, I believe Dunkin' serves up some of the best coffee around. Sometimes you may have to verbally shake some lazy employees by asking for fresh pots for fear they might mix the coffees or serve you an old pot, but when you get it, it's a fantastic cup of coffee. It's not homogenized like McDonalds and Krispy Kreme's heavier blends (McDonalds has a longer shelf life for their glass pots than both DD and Hortons at around 30 minutes sanctioned by most managements but we all know they go beyond that), not sewer juice like Burger King's, albeit comparable to Starbucks prices, has a mellower taste I have yet to find elsewhere.

I also find that Dunkin' shops who use the "tanks" as opposed to the old-fashioned pots/carafes vary in taste, being that pots often produce better results. Tastes often vary, but anything can skew that even with stores who use the pots (water quality of town/city, grind weights, water per ground ratios, etc.). Furthermore, most shops do test EVERYTHING imaginable, but then again some stores could fudge and or manipulate results because of poor management. Don't support those stores, simple as that.

[C. Fontaine]

He he, I had a feeling you worked at Dunkins!  I think I saw it somewhere, thats awesome.  Ugh, I hated Krispy Kreme.  I went there once up in Dedham, MA whilst being "trained" at Papa Ginos home office down the street from it.  Now I know their whole base is that their Donuts and such are like liquid sugar, but I can't handle that much sweets.  My teeth started to hurt!

I agree with you somewhat.  When I used to be closing mgr at Papa's, Dunkins was the only place around open so I would get coffee on my way home, and mingle with the late night crew there.  One thing I like about Tim's Iced though is that they used ground ice i instead of blocks, definitely a revolutionary idea!  Whenever I get Iced at Dunkin's, I ask for half-ice, because I get a lot more coffee!

I noticed at one Dunkin Donuts location that they had those Red-Book "shift communication" books.  I loved filling those pages out at Papa's, mostly because I would point out how our GM never filled in his shifts!  We had PQE's we had to do morning and afternoon, but it was debateable if anyone actually did them.

[XISMZERO]

What do you think of Papa's having worked there? I think you've made note in the past but I think they've got the best chain pizza out there. Surprised they don't do well in Connecticut or any states beyond the Northeast as many have pulled out of this state in the past decade and a half. Why is this? Not profitable enough? Why don't more people understand Papa's glory?! Everytime I walk into a shop, it's practically dead.

Now I have to make a 35+ minutes trip to reach my nearest one (though still well worth it). I have gripes about them though despite the price of excellent pizza; their large is really a medium and their prices are kind of steep for the general look and cosmetic of their shops (many of which are stuck in 1984 tones). Anyway, I've loved them since I was a kid (a since closed location) and if they move every last store out of CT, well guess I'm moving to Mass!

About Iced Coffee at Dunkin Donuts, the cup is only supposed to be filled 2/3 the way up but most don't realize they're not doing it correctly. Most shops I go to they fill it right up to the top (some even mountain it!). You always have to pull their chains to get them to get your order precise.

About Horton's Iced Coffee, prices are better and they give you more product and the crushed ice idea is decent but I like ice in an iced coffee. I went once and the ice was melted when I got home. It boils to personal tastes, still have always liked DD better.

Agreed on Krispy Kreme; their donuts are sugar frenzied but still delicious! Their coffee always manages to be fresh as well (they use those tanks as well but I'm not certain on their discard policies). They were dangerous when they had a shop about 20 minutes from my house - I'd often do a drive up that way once or twice a week for a couple donuts. It's closed now, but I suppose a Dunkin shop every .8 miles makes up...

Lastly, I dispise the tediums of the red and blue (for temps) books. They're a pain.

[C. Fontaine]

Papa Ginos has good pizza, but the problem boils down generally to food cost.  The most costly thing in the pizza business is cheese, mostly because of Americas lack of dairy farms.  Papa Ginos prices are usually pretty high compared to mom & pop shops, and even Dominos.  When I left, the cost of a lg cheese pizza was $9.99, which is ridiculous.  Their most profitable product is breadsticks, which only costed $.89 to make, including food cost, labor, heat, and they sold for $5.49 a pan.  Another thing was their promotions, like the "Kicker" and "Free throw" deals, which were all spin offs of each other, just worded differently, same with the coupons.  People definitely picked up on it, because we never did too well with those.  I acutally have a ton of Adam Vinatieri/Patriots promo t-shirts I am saving and will hopefully make a profit on someday, as Vinatieri is no longer on the Patriots.

To be honest I loved making pizza, it was definitely a talent and a passion.  Once I created a pizza that fit inside a tiny gift box.  I also was runner up for best pizza maker in the company, and got a medal.  It was all part of an event called the Pizzalympics... hehe.  I'll take a picture of it sometime.

The fact that their stores are corporately owned doesn't help.  They acquired D'Angelos, which are franchised sandwich shops, so it became pretty difficult for them to manage.  The worst thing I had to deal with was corporate communication, there was none.  I have horror stories of the A/C breaking mid-summer and attempting to get techs out.  They only have a small shared office building in Dedham, which is their only office, no regionals or anything.  As Marc82 said they did recently begin to offer franchising, but I don't think it will catch on too well.  One funny thing about their home office was they their break room was fully decorated with Coca-Cola wallpaper and such, yet they switched to Pepsi years ago and had a Pepsi fountain in the room.

All in all it wasn't a bad company to work for.  I was a shift leader then a manager for almost four years, and I really miss the people I worked with.  Really good times.  I was constantly filling in at other stores, mostly Worcester, in the district so I typically worked 50-60 hour weeks.  It was good money, especially delivery driving.  On a good night you could walk away with $100+ in tips plus $1 per deviery plus your normal wage.  Coupled with closing shifts I made around $550 a week after taxes!  But, eventually everyone left and went their own ways, so I did the same.

How is Dunkin Donuts?  When I used to hang around late night in the one in Webster, it seemed like it would be a nice job if you had decent owners.  I know some of them I see are totally by the book, while others are a mess.  Would you ever move to owning a Dunkin Donuts, how are closing shifts there?

I actually started a myspace group for the former posse... Featuring pics of my famed "Employee of the day" name tag... http://groups.myspace.com/papaginos

[Zayre88]

A new Tim Hortons in Waterville ME. It's located at left of Wendy's.  The chain now has 24 restaurants across Maine.

BANGOR - BREWER - OLD TOWN - HOULTON - LEWISTON (2) -
AUBURN (2)- PRESQUE ISLE (2) - AUGUSTA (2) - WATERVILLE -
SCARBOROUGH - PORTLAND - WESTBROOK - CARIBOU -
WINDHAM - SKOWHEGAN - NORWAY - TOPSHAM -
SOUTH PORTLAND - ROCKLAND - NEWPORT

[Marc82]

Tim Hortons will be closing a bunch of New England locations. So far the exact number, what locations, and when they will close have not been announced. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081107/business/cbusiness_us_timhortons_2

[greg8370]

The New London, CT store closed about 6 weeks ago and the location in nearby Waterford, CT closed a year ago.