Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons began in 1964 as a single coffee and donut shop in Hamilton, Ontario, opened by NHL defenseman Tim Horton and business partner Jim Charade. Horton was still playing professional hockey when he started the chain, and the early menu focused on coffee and fresh-baked donuts. Three years later, investor Ron Joyce bought into the operation and eventually took over after Horton died in a car crash in 1974. Joyce turned a regional favorite into a national institution, expanding aggressively across Canada through franchising. By the 1990s, Tim Hortons had become a daily habit for millions, with locations in nearly every Canadian town. A 1995 merger with Wendy's brought the chain under an American corporate umbrella for over a decade, but the brand remained distinctly Canadian in the eyes of its customers. In 2014, Burger King parent company 3G Capital struck an $11.4 billion deal to acquire Tim Hortons, creating Restaurant Brands International, a Toronto-based holding company that also controls Popeyes. Today, Tim Hortons operates more than 6,000 restaurants in 14 countries, serving coffee, donuts, breakfast sandwiches, and a growing lineup of lunch and snack items. The chain is Canada's largest quick-service restaurant operator by store count, and its cultural footprint extends well beyond food: the annual Roll Up the Rim contest, the Timbit, and the double-double are part of the national vocabulary.[edit]