zang
Senior Member
My understanding is that Tim's are franchises. Accordingly, the "I saw the security tape and it was Doug" came from franchise and NOT corporate office. Doug hands out Timmie's cards - betcha he buys them from this franchise. Good find re: Colley!!..Colley may well have leapt from franchise to Head office but first met Fords at the store. With Ford's the coincidences tend to usually be something more..
Not all Tims are franchises. It's a great growth strategy, because you're selling the blades and not the handle, so to speak; you minimize monetary risk for only a slight risk of reputation (often protected by severe legal penalties for infractions of franchise rules). However as time goes on and popularity grows, the cost of owning a big franchise name gets prohibitive and franchising companies lean towards owning their new stores. Better consistency and when you get that big, the risk of loss is minimal to the bottom line.
That said, according to the Tims website, they're still 95% franchise (down from 99% in 2012). I'm guessing most of the non-franchise growth has been in the US.