Tim Hortons, the Canadian quick-service restaurant chain beloved by Canadians since 1964 and by Mexicans since 2017, opened its 200th Mexican shop last week with a new construction inside Fundidora Park in Monterrey.
Besides consolidating the business’s presence in northern Mexico, the ribbon-cutting ceremony represented a strategic alliance between the restaurant and the municipality that aims to revitalize one of the Nuevo León state capital’s most recognizable spaces, according to company official Juan José Gutiérrez Chapa.
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“This new branch represents the beginning of a special bond: a meeting of paths that seeks to give new life and enhance one of the most important spaces in [Monterrey],” he said, referring to Fundidora Park, named for the steel foundry whose former site the park occupies.
Known for its “Always Fresh” coffee (which the company proudly asserts is 100% Mexican), Timbits (donut holes), donuts and breakfast sandwiches, Canada’s largest restaurant chain was founded in 1964 by hockey player Tim Horton and has become a major Canadian cultural symbol.
The company opened its first store in Mexico on Oct. 27, 2017, in the Fashion Drive Mall in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, about 14 miles southwest of the 200th Tim Hortons.
At last Friday’s inauguration, Gutiérrez Chapa was joined by Tim Hortons company board member Pedro Chapa Chávez and trustees of Fundidora Park, reinforcing the joint commitment to promoting the development and conservation of the emblematic urban park.
The new restaurant was designed to integrate organically into the environment, as if it had always been part of it. The company worked hard “to respect the park’s essence and provide a warm and harmonious presence.”
“We’re doing more than just enhancing the visitor experience here,” Gutiérrez Chapa said. “We are contributing to local economic development through job creation.”
Each Tim Hortons employs more than 25 people, he said, adding that the company employs more than 2,500 people nationwide.
Gutiérrez Chapa said Tim Hortons is not going to rest easy after opening 200 stores in less than 10 years.
“Our goal is to open 500 branches by 2030, and we are confident that at the rate we are going, we will achieve this,” he said.
With reports from El Universal, Milenio and Posta
