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Audio Recording Mar 27, 2022 at 3:10:00 PM. Tim Hortons is a Canadian fast-food chain that was founded in April 1964 in Toronto and over the years, the restaurant has become a Canadian icon and important for Canada’s national identity. The restaurant is famous for its delicious donuts and coffee, and it is the largest restaurant chain in Canada. Since 2016, 3665 restaurants opened across Canada and therefore, I was curious to research about how Tim Hortons properly space out their stores and why they place their stores in that particular location. I am also very interested in finding some patterns of Tim Hortons as a business in street locations in Surrey, Guildford. I chose to explore Tim Hortons as a business activity because not only do they have delicious drinks and food, but they have also taken many community initiative’s such as supporting charities like Special Olympics or sending kids from low-income families to attend camp. As I roamed around the different street locations of Tim Hortons in Guildford, I noticed that the place is very assessable by transit, car or just by walking. Additionally, there are many neighboring stores such as the gas station, pizza shop and much more so people can have different options and it will encourage more people to come. As stated by the book, “Economic Geography: A contemporary Introduction”, “The physical characteristics of place can sometimes become an important part of a products branding when it is sold elsewhere” (p. 16, Coe, Kelly, Yeung, 2020). For instance, Tim Hortons branding of coffee products is also sold in stores and as part of their branding, human activities will also shape the place, which has a historical significance. An example of human activity that shapes Tim Hortons is Hockey. When Ron Joyce and Tim Horton became business partners in 1966, Horton was still balancing playing professional Hockey with the NHL while running a business. While others find it hard to do anything else besides playing in the NHL, Horton could not bring himself to abandon his teammates, despite his declining skills and injury. After Tim Hortons successfully expanded to more locations across Canada and to some locations in the United States, prime minister Stephen Harper announced in 2009 that Tim Hortons is Canadian pastime and it will be a part of Canada’s national identity, such as family traditions of waking up at 6am and hockey practices (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2022). I’ve noticed that the street locations in Tim Hortons are very close to each other, and it is located near busy streets. I walked to one location that was next to a gas station. The location apparently seems to only have a drive thru which is good for business because sometimes consumers won’t want to take the time to go inside and order. Additionally, because of the pandemic, people will feel safer ordering in the drive-thru and now there are Uber Eats which will deliver Tim Hortons straight to your door which is very convenient, and you will be more inclined to buy their food. However, Tim Hortons has had its challenges in obtaining new consumers. An article states that it seems that their product quality has decreased, and it is not keeping up with their competition such as Starbucks or McDonald’s. Since Tim Hortons has been around for more than 50 years, their main consumers are getting older and they are failing to attract younger consumers, but they are working on initiatives to excite younger people to come to their locations. Moreover, Tim Hortons are merging with other businesses such as Wendy or Burger King, conflicts often arise between management and franchises. When 3G Capital bought Tim Hortons in 2014, Restaurant Brands International was created after Tim Hortons merged with Burger King. This was merger was not the ideal situation, and the RBI was accused of poorly using money from the national advertising fund, which was 700 million (McKinnon, 2022).