Tim's in China

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I am glad the Brier is coming to a close.  I have to admit that seeing the Evil Empire's cups on each side of the house has sucked some of the joy out of it for me. 

Remember when it was very trendy to back pack through Europe.  This was decades ago, but it was the thing to do, a rite of passage into adulthood.  A last hurrah before you got a "real" job.  A three to six month journey of self-discovery.  The funny thing about that was that it was well known that all Americans who did this would get a backpack with a Canadian flag on it.  They wanted to be treated well in Europe and needed to masquerade as a Canadian in order to do this. 

I don't know why I am reminded of this when I watched Tim Horton's open their first store in China.  I have to call it a store because it appears the product that they are selling is Canada.  Maple Leafs everywhere.  It looks like an airport gift shop.  Amazing that they are laying it on thick when they are not a Canadian company.  Talk about your bait and switch.  They are using a Canadian identity to funnel profits into the US.  Trump should be proud. 

The timing is also priceless.  Opening at the time when Cdn/China relations are at an all-time low.  Tim's is planning to open 1500 stores in China over the next three years.  Rapid Expansion.  Ask Target how well that worked for them when they came to Canada. 

Tim's wants to capitalize on the coffee craze in China.  That would be good logic except there is no coffee craze in China.  There is a Starbucks craze in China.  The Evil Empire is not Starbucks.  Starbucks actually values their employees and provides them benefits.  Tim Horton's values their employees so much that they fired one for giving a TimBit to a fussy toddler.  Going to Starbucks is an actual experience where they encourage their customers to savor their time.  At Tim's they actually don't want you to sit down and if you do, someone comes over with a mop and mops continuously under you until you leave.  Also, Starbucks coffee actually is coffee and not tepid dishwater. 

Business experts are in agreement that this is a bad idea for Tim's to be expanding this rapidly in another continent.  They call it a recipe for failure because they will be so focused on corporate greed and their values will be diluted.  In fairness to Tim's, that won't be an issue as they don't have values.  Tim's is so drunk on their own koolaid that they don't listen to experts that they are determined to greed themselves into massive losses that will require the Canadian consumer to pay for via increased prices.  Hopefully, Canadian consumers will finally have to abandon the American chain.  Bring it on.