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(01-06-2020, 11:44 AM)Momo26 Wrote: If by everyone you mean the speciality shops then yes, their patrons choose those places for particular reasons ie. Fair trade/better than fair trade/vegan etc. They may have stilk taken a bit of a hit but yes surviving.
I see coffee Culture crowed as the same as Timmies crowds though.
By specialty shops do you mean coffee shops with espresso machines? Some have highly loyal patrons, but many customers are just looking for (what they consider to be) a decent cup of coffee, at a convenient location.
Tim Hortons will draw some of the Coffee Culture customers, but not all -- the product selection is not exactly the same. And some of the Tim Hortons customers will come from other locations (some of my neighbours currently drive to Tim Hortons to pick up coffee since there is no DTK location, for example).
I don't think it's a death knell for Coffee Culture, but it certainly will be a challenge for them.
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Personally Tim Horton's is the last tenant I would like to see for this space. Tim's brand does not fit a historic building from 1880's. I know people love their tim's for some reason, personally i don't get it. I could make a better coffee out of a used shoe. I am not saying downtown shouldn't have a tim's. I feel like a better fit would have been in the market square building or the stucco building beside the dollarama. Something that already looks cheap. Seems counter intuitive to renovate and refurbish a 150 year old building then put a tim hortons in it.
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I agree it doesn't fit that building unless it's somehow some new-age stylish Tims, but the products will be the same. Wouldn't be surprised if an express Tims is opening in Market Square for Sep2020 as is. Student hours focus etc.
Downtown is evolving/changing that's for sure. As I've told visitors and mentioned on here before, 3 years from now it will be very different, 5 years from now totally transformed.
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(01-06-2020, 02:38 PM)Momo26 Wrote: I agree it doesn't fit that building unless it's somehow some new-age stylish Tims, but the products will be the same. Wouldn't be surprised if an express Tims is opening in Market Square for Sep2020 as is. Student hours focus etc.
Downtown is evolving/changing that's for sure. As I've told visitors and mentioned on here before, 3 years from now it will be very different, 5 years from now totally transformed. I would be surprised if tims didn't open something to service the students which is fine it fits there. It does not fit at prominent location in downtown in a historic building. this is a classic example of the same boring things going into new commercial spaces. You see it all over Toronto. building built with ground floor retail is guaranteed to have a dentist office, a bank, a shoppers, and a generic coffee chain. unfortunately I don't think there is anything that can be done. These companys have the ability to sign 3-5 years leases with out batting an eye and obviously landlords love that.
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(01-06-2020, 08:58 AM)jgsz Wrote: A restaurant in the old American Hotel sounds like a good idea. But what kind of restaurant? Personally, I'd like to see an upscale Chinese Restaurant. At one time downtown had a couple of Chinese Restaurants but today they are on the fringe. A nice German Restaurant would be a great nod to the past. A middle-eastern restaurant restaurant offering more than Schawarma would fit in nicely too.
Upscale Chinese would be fine, but personally I’d like a Moroccan/NAfrican place or a Spanish tapas bar. An upscale German spot would be good, of course. In my fantasies, it would be a classic French place, but they seem to be completely out of fashion these days.
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I think a consensus of pretty much 'anything but Timmies' is what I'm interpreting for that spot LOL.
A co-worker of mine was explaining there is a new Timmies in downtown Toronto (I think financial di$trict) that is the new/boutique version where they have baristas and do hand-crafted beverages. She believes they don't have the regular trip coffee even but that kind would not likely flourish in DTK (South side at that).
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01-06-2020, 06:00 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-06-2020, 06:01 PM by clasher.)
I'm surprised to see a timmies open up in KW without a drive-thru.
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(01-06-2020, 05:17 PM)Momo26 Wrote: I think a consensus of pretty much 'anything but Timmies' is what I'm interpreting for that spot LOL.
A co-worker of mine was explaining there is a new Timmies in downtown Toronto (I think financial di$trict) that is the new/boutique version where they have baristas and do hand-crafted beverages. She believes they don't have the regular trip coffee even but that kind would not likely flourish in DTK (South side at that). South side? It's on (Kitchener) north side of King St! 
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(01-06-2020, 05:17 PM)Momo26 Wrote: I think a consensus of pretty much 'anything but Timmies' is what I'm interpreting for that spot LOL.
A co-worker of mine was explaining there is a new Timmies in downtown Toronto (I think financial di$trict) that is the new/boutique version where they have baristas and do hand-crafted beverages. She believes they don't have the regular trip coffee even but that kind would not likely flourish in DTK (South side at that).
Personally, I don’t have a problem with a Timmies on that corner (certainly a step up from the payday loan place that was there), but my restaurant “wish list” relates to the Capers space.
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(01-06-2020, 11:20 AM)tomh009 Wrote: (01-06-2020, 10:34 AM)Spokes Wrote: I can definitely see the Tim Hortons hurting Coffee Culture's business unfortunately.
Everyone (?) seems to have survived the arrival of Starbucks. Will a (relatively small, urban-format) Tim Hortons be that much worse?
I don't think Coffee Time is doing that well. Between Manulife providing free coffee to employees and Starbucks they've taken a bit of a hit. It's possible a Tim's could steal some of the street traffic they get since they are comparable products.
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(01-06-2020, 12:50 PM)tomh009 Wrote: (01-06-2020, 11:44 AM)Momo26 Wrote: If by everyone you mean the speciality shops then yes, their patrons choose those places for particular reasons ie. Fair trade/better than fair trade/vegan etc. They may have stilk taken a bit of a hit but yes surviving.
I see coffee Culture crowed as the same as Timmies crowds though.
By specialty shops do you mean coffee shops with espresso machines? Some have highly loyal patrons, but many customers are just looking for (what they consider to be) a decent cup of coffee, at a convenient location.
Tim Hortons will draw some of the Coffee Culture customers, but not all -- the product selection is not exactly the same. And some of the Tim Hortons customers will come from other locations (some of my neighbours currently drive to Tim Hortons to pick up coffee since there is no DTK location, for example).
I don't think it's a death knell for Coffee Culture, but it certainly will be a challenge for them.
I don't think so either. Not even sure how much it will hurt them. I think it's a different crowd altogether. I tend to make my own coffee, but will do Tim Hortons if it's close by. When in DTK, it's Coffee Culture, and that won't change.
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The owner of CC is a great guy. ALWAYS smiling. Missions daily from Mississauga as this is where CC corporate told him his franchise must be. Hopefully with the growing population plenty to share amongst the businesses
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(01-06-2020, 10:30 PM)Momo26 Wrote: The owner of CC is a great guy. ALWAYS smiling. Missions daily from Mississauga as this is where CC corporate told him his franchise must be. Hopefully with the growing population plenty to share amongst the businesses
This. This. This. This.
He's one of the reasons I go back as often as I do. He's so nice, and genuinely cares about his shop. I've always really appreciated him.
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(01-06-2020, 06:00 PM)clasher Wrote: I'm surprised to see a timmies open up in KW without a drive-thru.
My local Tim Horton's (Ottawa and River) doesn't have a drive thru.
It's honestly my go-to coffee place. More upscale coffee places nearby aren't open when I'm typically grabbing coffee to go, and I stopped going to McDonalds because the person at the till had a rather unsunny disposition (although not unkind). The staff at my local Timmie's are really friendly, know me, and it keeps me coming back.
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I think a lot of people associate Tim's as a blue collar coffee place and as such, they want to pride themselves on the fact they dont patronage it. I prefer smaller non franchise coffee shops when I have the time however, going to work Tims is convenient, provides a quality product and dependable service. I would like to add that it is a Canadian company as well. I am thankful for places like Tims and MacDonalds because I work horrible hours and I know I can depend on them to be open.
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