If ever there was a sure thing,†Tim Hortons Inc. co-founder Ronald Joyce wrote in his autobiography, “owning a Tim Hortons franchise was it.â€
That could well be true. You drive into a Canadian town (or city) of just about any size, and you’re as likely to see a Tim Hortons as you are a church.
And a recent Canadian court filing by the country’s largest food-service company shows why. The filing, stemming from a nasty $1.95 billion class-action lawsuit filed against it last fall, details franchisees’ healthy bottom lines, and probably strengthens the company’s legal defense. Profits work out to an average $265,000 per outlet. Will this put local franchise owners in a bad light? That’s what some of them fear.