Tim Horton...Who's Next

Tim Horton, Canada's answer to America's Starbucks, has taken the biggest step that we've seen in the coffee industry in a long time. Last month they announced that they would be selling their company to fast food giant Burger King.

I recently heard about this monumental selling. A few of our friends came into our shop. They just came back from Canada, where they are natives. I asked them whether they had heard of the Horton selling. The silence in the room was deafening. "WHAT..ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!", was the reaction from not just one Canadian but a couple of our customers, who we spoke to about the merger of the two companies.

The selling of Tim Horton to Burger King, financed in part, by Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway, marks one of the single most pivotal moments in the history of coffee in North America. I cannot stress how important this event is. This day will be remembered, as the day that the Independently-owned operator becomes the franchise maker/seller model.

Take a look at all of the major coffee shops around your city. Most of them, if not all of them are either a Starbucks or a Coffee Bean and Tea or some other major franchise. There used to be a time when "Mom and Pop" owned shops littered each and every corner of the country. The uniquely decorated and flavored shops were home to many a romantic ballad, hostile conversation or influential meeting.

It wasn't until the advent of the Franchise (ala Starbucks) store, that we saw a shift in the landscape of the coffee community nationwide. When Seattle's Starbucks began making a name for itself, with its 7-11 cookie cutter, low service, high volume metric, coffee shop owners began looking at ways to model their businesses in the exact same manner. (not you of course)

No one ever thought that Canada's Tim Horton, who had been a staple in Northern America coffee culture since the early 60's, would ever fall by the wayside and be swallowed up by of all companies Burger King. It is almost unthinkable that something like this would ever happen.

On the horizon, will we  continue to see power grabs like this by other establishments, wanting to get in on the coffee shop business. Will Bluebottle be next, maybe Stumptown? Could one of the shops here in Las Vegas become the coffee delivery vehicle for say Taco Bell. Only time will tell.