Coffee shop chain will build two new distribution centres and improve existing warehouses to increase support for Canadian franchise network at a reported cost of CA$100m
Tim Hortons said the multi-million-dollar investment will create 150 jobs across two new warehouse sites – one serving British Columbia and another based in Alberta that will also handle deliveries for neighbouring Saskatchewan.
The project, expected to complete by 2020, will also include the ‘significant expansion’ of an existing warehouse in Nova Scotia.
The plans form part of $700m programme to renovate restaurants and branding across the coffee shop chain’s Canadian portfolio and standardise service across the country.
Tim Hortons President, Alex Macendo, said the investment would ensure that franchisees located “towards the end of the distribution curve have the same excellent service that anyone in Ontario or Quebec has.”
Macendo, who joined Tim Hortons after leaving his role as President of North America at Burger King Holdings in December 2017, has sought to smooth tensions between a group of Canadian franchisees and parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI).
The Great White North Franchisee Association, which claims to represent more than half of Tim Hortons’ 4,200+ Canadian franchise owners, has publicly criticised RBI’s handling of the company. It claims RBI’s refurbishment programme will cost store owners $450,000 per restaurant.
In May 2018, the group claimed cost-cutting measures related to minimum wage rises and sluggish sales had damaged Tim Horton’s operating standards. It also claims that