Old style Tim Hortons?

[duranie]

Does anyone know of any old-style Tim Hortons remaining in Canada?

I was at Tim Hortons this afternoon, and I got to thinking about how different it looked back in the 1980s when I was a young kid. All the food displays were different.. they would have cakes on display, and even sell cake by the slice. And I used to love the "fancies". There used to be a row of stools people could sit at. I'm sure there are other differences that just slip my mind.

Anyhow, I was wondering if any of these old style ones still exist? Or have they all been remodelled now? In recent years I've been to countless Tim Hortons all over the Maritimes, and it seems they've all been remodelled here.

[ame555]

As soon as I saw your title I thought of the exact same things you said! The cakes and the stools!!

And I remember the muffins seemed huge compared to now (or maybe because I was a kid too?)

They were kind of dark inside too?

And I remember if you ate the food there it tasted great, if you took it to go you would bite into a donut and it tasted just like cigarette smoke!!

[Natalka]

The one nearest us is changed, but I remember things you do as well.

Ah, the fancies. Return the bowtie, Timmies!



AH, back in the days when everything was baked instore daily - not par-baked and brought in to finish.

[vibrantflame]

I remember even just a few years back they used to have slices of cake and in the summer, fruit tarts, etc. Why did they get rid of all of those? I loved it.

[FallenPixels]

There are a few around that still sell cakes but now they moved the bakeries out of them, they seem to be moving in a completely different direction

No stools though

[maizy]

Ah, the fancies. Return the bowtie, Timmies!



I used to be soooo good at decorating these! They were fun to make.

[Natalka]

Cool, maizy!

[lisainhamilton]

remember the strawberry tarts? yum!

[roseofblack25]

I miss the coffee cake and coffee deals

[shmeelady]

It's really unfortunate the way Tim Horton's has changed over the years. I worked for them for 4 years up until I recently went on mat leave. I made it up to assistant manager, which trust me is the WORST possible position to ever be put in. lol.

Let's see if I can explain this fully without writing a whole essay. LOL.

For the past couple of years there has been several class action lawsuits filed against the senior executives from store owners. Store owners were forced into this new and apparently "better" system of purchasing flash frozen product, which may I add isn't even produced in Canada. This new system is called the 'always fresh' system, which was put in place to ensure that product could be made continuosly throughout the day to keep up with the demand. Because of this system stores were forced to purchase new equipment costing roughly 30,000 for a fancy microwave to defrost product.. THIS IS ridiculous!!! Basically some store owners are really miffed because they are upset with the changes, because they are losing money. Before the par-bake system was implemented it used to cost franchisers anywhere from 6 - 9 cents to produce one unfinished donut, whereas with the 'always fresh' system the cost to produce has now risen to 17.9cents per unfinished donut. This is far more than the 12 cents per donut that executives originally told the franchisers they would be paying. But as the price of the pre baked donuts increased they were assured that there would be less waste, increased sales and reduced labor costs which would in turn offset the cost of the new product.

Pretty much any regular employee can walk into a Tim's kitchen and produce a basket of timbits.I was shuffled between two stores and honestly at smaller locations they rely on the supervisors or managers to do production because it's just that easy. Why pay $9.50/hr for an extra set of hands when you can pay an employee that is already there and save yourself the money?!

OH... and back in january before I went on maternity leave they were JUST switching over the muffins to the always fresh system, so the muffins don't even bake in the oven anymore. They come completely baked and are popped into the always fresh convection oven for 3-5 minutes depending on the batch size and BAM. I honestly hate the taste of any Tim's product, I by far prefer Robins donuts...

OH and on another note.... fun fact;; as the price of donuts increases the size decreases... Tim's donuts today are up to 14.3% smaller than they were back in the day.

[TaraF]

Oh gosh I remember the long johns *drools*. I know that times change and things modernize but I do remember "the old" Tim Hortons and much preferred it to todays. Infact I don't go to Tims for anything anymore.

[shmeelady]

When I think about it, I don't even think it's about modernizing the stores... I think it comes down to money. The amount of money that these store owners bring in is absolutely disgusting.

[Poirot]

Those banana creme filled donuts were my absolute favourites.I've never seen or had one for years and years.

[maizy]

It's really unfortunate the way Tim Horton's has changed over the years. I worked for them for 4 years up until I recently went on mat leave. I made it up to assistant manager, which trust me is the WORST possible position to ever be put in. lol.

Let's see if I can explain this fully without writing a whole essay. LOL.

For the past couple of years there has been several class action lawsuits filed against the senior executives from store owners. Store owners were forced into this new and apparently "better" system of purchasing flash frozen product, which may I add isn't even produced in Canada. This new system is called the 'always fresh' system, which was put in place to ensure that product could be made continuosly throughout the day to keep up with the demand. Because of this system stores were forced to purchase new equipment costing roughly 30,000 for a fancy microwave to defrost product.. THIS IS ridiculous!!! Basically some store owners are really miffed because they are upset with the changes, because they are losing money. Before the par-bake system was implemented it used to cost franchisers anywhere from 6 - 9 cents to produce one unfinished donut, whereas with the 'always fresh' system the cost to produce has now risen to 17.9cents per unfinished donut. This is far more than the 12 cents per donut that executives originally told the franchisers they would be paying. But as the price of the pre baked donuts increased they were assured that there would be less waste, increased sales and reduced labor costs which would in turn offset the cost of the new product.

Pretty much any regular employee can walk into a Tim's kitchen and produce a basket of timbits.I was shuffled between two stores and honestly at smaller locations they rely on the supervisors or managers to do production because it's just that easy. Why pay $9.50/hr for an extra set of hands when you can pay an employee that is already there and save yourself the money?!

OH... and back in january before I went on maternity leave they were JUST switching over the muffins to the always fresh system, so the muffins don't even bake in the oven anymore. They come completely baked and are popped into the always fresh convection oven for 3-5 minutes depending on the batch size and BAM. I honestly hate the taste of any Tim's product, I by far prefer Robins donuts...

OH and on another note.... fun fact;; as the price of donuts increases the size decreases... Tim's donuts today are up to 14.3% smaller than they were back in the day.

Oh Shmeelady, it really is unfortunate that you had a bad store owner. I really enjoyed my years there and had a great boss. I'd go back in a heartbeat

[shmeelady]

what?
my store owner was great she had poker nights at her house, and tons of get togethers for the staff. I made decent wages and my bonuses were always great. I would never go back there because it's not a job I would want to be working the rest of my life... I am going back to school while I am still young.