Tim Hortons officially opens museum at Hamilton birthplace

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(Updated)

Tim Hortons officially opened its re-designed first location on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton Wednesday. So the coffee and donut chain threw a party.

The renovated store has plenty of Tim’s memorabilia on display. And a lot of customers have been reminiscing about the Timmies of their childhood. Most of us know it’s a coffee chain that changed the way we drink coffee.

But now, on the heels of a merger with Burger King, is Tim Hortons about to change even more?

The party had throwback donuts and long-time staff brought back from retirement.

Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger “For those of us old enough to have see the whole evolution, the uniforms are a hoot.”

Nick Bontis from the DeGroote School of Business says Tim Hortons taught us something the rest of the world still hasn’t learned: “To wake up in the morning, go wait in line in your car in the cold to get a coffee in a cup that you take to work. It impacted the auto industry, now they have to put cup holders in cars.”

In Europe, people take their coffee in China cups and they stick around to savour it. Much of the U.S. is stuck on either Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. But the whole point of the Tim Hortons merger with Burger King is expansion in other countries.

Bontis says: “One plus one will somehow equal three. So we have to expect change in the long run.”

There’s been a pervasive rumour over the past few weeks that the new head office at Tim Hortons was going to get rid of one of the most iconic menu items. I can confirm that rumour is not true. The Timbit isn’t going anywhere.

Bontis adds: “You’re not going to see a difference at your local Tim Hortons. It’s going to be business as usual.”

And that’s good news for Tim’s many fans.

Additional video: Jeyan Jeganathan’s interview with Clanachan from News Now Midday:

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