
We knew it would happen didn’t we? It was a predictable outcome when American/Brazilian-owned Restaurant Brands International (who also owns Burger King) bought Canadian icon Tim Hortons in 2015. When the Canadian-themed commercials disappeared from our televisions, so did the level of service and quality of the products. It’s now strictly a numbers game for the big business that owns Timmies.
I may be going out on a limb here but I’m pretty sure Canadians wouldn’t mind paying a few pennies more for their daily double-double and maple glazed donut to have them freshly made in-house and promptly served by happy people who receive benefits. We don’t ask much. After all, we’re Canadian. But the natives are restless and unless Tim Hortons takes drastic steps to improve service and quality of their products without penalizing their employees’ benefit plans, we could be screwed—by foreign owners. Oh, that it should come to this.
What can we do?
We hate to say “We told you so” but . . . customers are unhappy; franchisees are unhappy; employees are unhappy. Stock prices are going cold. Under American leadership, Timmies has lost its basic Canadian flavour, its essence. Being a good corporate citizen is about more than the bottom line and we are sure that bottom line would bounce back up if they treated their customers, employees and franchisees with more respect. Taking care of each other is the Canadian way.
Should we pass the toque and buy back what should still be ours? We could have bake sales (ironic!), get the Leafs to play a charity fund-raiser game (after all, do they really deserve to get paid for what they do?), get little kids in red mittens with donation boxes around their necks to stand in their skates outside Beer Stores, ask Justin and the missus to put on their Indian costumes and pray?
There has to be a way we can bring Tim Hortons home again. It’s our heritage, our right and should still be our Timmies. The CEOs in charge in 2015 should have never sold out and now all Canadians are paying the price. Get out the old handbook—the one that spells honour and flavour with a “U” and films its commercials in places like Grande Prairie and Chicoutimi—before the Yanks messed with our special formula, our secret recipe. We’re dyin’ here. We need to buy back our Timmies.
Here’s what I posted in 2015 when Restaurant Brands International took over:
[…] Tim Hortons’ Canada President Sami Siddiqui and the bigwigs at Restaurant Brands International Inc. have blown it big-time. They’re now ranked 67th down from 13th position in Canada’s list of most trusted companies. They’ve been fighting with franchisees and employees about cuts to service and quality at Tim Hortons outlets and it has seriously hurt their stock prices and brand. The problem is they’re American and they just don’t get us. A few weeks ago I posted a piece about Timmie’s problems (click here to read Timmie Come Home. We miss you and we need you.) […]
Just sad, very sad. First Woolworth’s, then Kresge’s, then Eaton’s and now Tim’s…. yikes! Is this progress and the way of the future? Who will we lose next…. The Bay😢
Gail from Oakville
Sorry sweetie. Hudson’s Bay is Already owned by an American conglomerate.
Sent from my iPad Lynda Davis Follow me at: boomerbroadcast.net
>