Today is an interesting day in Canadian history. If Canadians know what I am talking about, then it is undoubtedly an iconic day. Many argue that it is a Canadian staple. Others believe that it is within our blood. If you were to think about Canada, then there are a few things that many individuals would associate with our country such as hockey, maple syrup, stuff like that; but of course, there’s also Tim Hortons. 55 years ago, and on this day May 17 1964 National Hockey League player Tim Horton opened the first Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut shop in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
A great majority of Canadians would know who this legendary player is, but for those who do not; Tim Horton played in the National Hockey League for nearly 24 years as a defenceman. For most of his career, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but did make stops in New York, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Horton, a 4x Stanley Cup champion and 6x All-Star did not earn the type of salary today’s stars earn back in the Original Six era. Players often had to work in the offseason to supplement income for themselves and family and he was no exception. When not playing professional hockey, Horton worked plenty of different jobs like at a beer store or for Conn Smythe’s sand and gravel company. It was during these off seasons that Horton would develop a liking towards business and would propel his desire to enter into entrepreneurship. His ventures into business would start him off in a few different industries. Yet it was not quite the doughnut and coffee shop just quite yet. His first businesses were a car dealership in Toronto and a few eateries; a hamburger shop in Scarborough and a restaurant in North Bay with his brother Gerry. Thereafter, he would eventually open the coffee and doughnut shop known as Tim Hortons with Jim Charade.
For Canada, doughnut shops began appearing in suburban areas of Ontario during the 1950s. These shops were small and locally owned. By the early 1960s, American companies such as Mister Donut and Dunkin’ Donuts began expanding up north with doughnut franchises popping up in Ontario and Quebec. In 1962, Canada would follow with their own donut companies in Tim Hortons and Country Style soon afterwards.
When concerning the restaurant Tim Hortons, many would associate it with Tim Horton and Ron Joyce. However, Horton opened the first restaurant with Jim Charade, a salesman and doughnut plant manager for Quebec snack food company, Vachon. Charade initially wanted to open a retail doughnut shop with Vachon, however, the company was not keen on the idea and instead wanted to focus on being a supplier of snack food to major grocery stores. This would lead to Charade crossing the border to Boston, Massachusetts to tour the Mister Donut factory and attempt at getting a franchise of his own in Canada. Upon his return, however, he would choose to open up his own shop in Your Do-Nut. However, after opening his shop, the doughnut market returns were lower than what Charade was expecting. Thereafter, Charade would eventually meet the famed Tim Horton and thought about using the star name of a famous NHLer to benefit the branding of his small local shop.
With the meeting between Charade and Horton, the two started a business relationship forming Timandjim LTD, and began discussing plans to move forward with the company. Horton, however, was not interested in the doughnut and wanted to focus on hamburgers. The pair would open a few burgers-focused drive-in restaurants with Charade licensing Horton’s name to rebrand his doughnut shop into Tim Horton Do-Nut. Ultimately, the restaurants would struggle, and Charade would persuade Horton on the doughnut idea, finally establish the first Tim Hortons franchise.
The Horton brand doughnut shop would go on to franchising stores instead of opening and owning a number of their own stores. By doing so, it allowed the company to spread their stores more easily through selling equipment and having the franchisees follow the guideline. In 1965, the pair of Charade and Tim would move on from Timandjim LTD. to Tim Donut LTD. after incorporating Charade’s struggling doughnut shop and Horton becoming an equal partner in the business.
The first franchisee of the Tim Hortons brand was one 21-year-old Spencer Brown who was a bank clerk from Toronto. The restaurant provided caffeine for nearby steelworkers, and the doughnuts were a huge hit. This relationship, however, was short-lived with Brown and Charade not having the best relationship. Brown would choose to sell and move onto other ventures, but Charade’s second franchisee owner also did not have the best of relationships. The third franchisee, and perhaps the most well known, was Hamilton police officer, Ron Joyce, who lived in the area. Joyce had already been running a franchise of his own in Dairy Queen but was looking for further opportunities after being denied a second Dairy Queen franchise. Yet the relationship between Charade and Joyce would not last and Joyce left a short time afterwards. At some point, with Charade struggling by himself and Horton playing hockey, he would leave Tim Donut LTD. Horton would go on to persuade Joyce to rejoin with the latter purchasing half the company for $12,000 as a condition to re-enter the fold.
On February 21, 1974, Tim Horton would be involved in a high-speed single-vehicle crash that ultimately took his life at the age of 44. Horton had been known to struggle with alcohol, and the autopsy showed that he was under the influence at the time of his death. Joyce would become the majority owner with 50.5 percent of shares in the company after Horton’s death. By 1975, Joyce bought out the rest of the company from Horton’s wife Lori for $1 million becoming the sole owner of the company.
Today the company is owned by Restaurant Brands International and has over 4500 stores across Canada, the United States and the world.