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Originally Posted by SteelTown
I'm sure many would enjoy this youtube clip of Tim Hortons on Ottawa St
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Great clip, do you know who he was reporting for? LOL, I love the lady owner's story about the teacher. I wonder if the teacher would be around today to see Ron Joyce's yacht. I'm showing my age here, but Tim Horton was actually killed in a 1974 car crash. He was a Buffalo Sabre at the time and they had played a game in Toronto. He was driving back in a exotic Italian sports car, a Pantera, and he was believed to be going over 100 miles an hour and being chased by the police. He crashed on the QEW, St. Catharines.
Ron Joyce would later buy out his widow's share for 1 million dollars. She sued years later claiming she made that agreement under duress, but lost. Of course Joyce later sold his shares to Wendy's and I believe became their single largest shareholder. It seemed the relationship between him and Dave Thomas was going well. Of course Dave Thomas is not around now and Joyce is retired. Joyce has not been real happy today with the way Tim's has been run, ie: the quality of things. Years ago he was not easily convinced on the idea to put in drive thru's. He figured you had to go inside and see and smell the products. A franchise owner, of the old one at Upper Gage and Fennell, convinced him, and hence I'm pretty sure that location became the first ever with a drive thru. --- Another first, the Wendy's on Queenston Road was the first location in Canada.
Sorry to stray from Ottawa Street, just thought I'd expand on this story.
I always wondered what made them choose Hamilton and Ottawa Street for their first (and they probably hadn't planned on many more at the time), site? Possibly the perception of coffee and donuts being more of a blue collar thing and Ottawa Street being a major thoroughfare to an industrial zone?