No Word From Tim Horton's Owners After Closure

Wednesday morning's abrupt closure of 36 Tim Horton's coffee shops throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut, including three in Narragansett and South Kingstown, has baffled residents as well as now former employees.  With no warning the coffee shop's doors were locked and signs erected Wednesday morning broadcasted the closure.

The Oakville, Canada based company cited third quarter losses and a declining market in New England as impetus for the closure, according to a press release issued Wednesday.

"Following a comprehensive review, we have decided to close 36 restaurants, 34 of which are located in the Providence and Hartford markets, in the fourth quarter in order to focus on and reinvest in our core growth markets in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. where the brand continues to demonstrate strengthening average unit volumes, cash flows and brand progression," noted the release.

The abrupt closure of the stores was evident, as once-customers at the Wakefield Tim Horton's on Kingstown Road were still pulling up to the drive-thru Friday afternoon.  Instead of driving away with a coffee, they were greeted with a sign that stated "This location is CLOSED.  Thank you for your patronage."

However, the word around town is that there is no word.  Citing company policy, members of the Haverly family, who were present at Tim Horton's Locations in Narragansett and South Kingstown late this week, said that they were not allowed to talk to the media, and ushered photographers off their property to conform to company rules. 

The frustration on the faces of Haverly family members was palpable Friday.  They are the owners of three Tim Horton's locations in Narragansett, Wakefield, and Charlestown.  According to an unnamed source close to the family, the three stores employed more than 50 people.  A blue rubbish dumpster has been placed beside both the Narragansett and Wakefield locations.

"We continued to create sales momentum in the third quarter with strong operating performances in both our Canadian and U.S. segments," said Don Schroeder, president and CEO. "However, at the same time, we incurred an asset impairment charge and subsequently made the decision to close all of our underperforming restaurants in two markets in the New England region. We expect this decision to have a positive impact on our U.S. business in terms of our continued business progression and management focus," added Schroeder. "We plan to reinvest a portion of the expected earnings improvement from these closures to increase our brand profile in our U.S. core growth markets where we are building critical mass."

With around 3,100 locations in Canada, Tim Hortons retains 567 stores across the United States. In 2004, Tim Horton's reportedly paid almost $42 million to take over more than 40 ailing Bess Eaton coffee shops in the northeast.   Overall U.S. and Canada revenues were reported up by 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2010, according to the release.