[Bertuzzied]

Kinda surprised. Tim's is definitely better than Dunkin Donuts.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/busin...431/story.html

Activist investors say the $664-million-U.S. expansion over the last decade has been a waste. At stake may be a forced retreat from a market that promises the Oakville, Ont.-based company potential growth as it reaches saturation at home.
"They are meeting the point at which they won't be able to open any more stores in Canada," said Jim Danahy, chief executive officer of Customer LAB, a Toronto-based retail consulting firm. "They know long-term growth will have to come from the U.S."
Tim Hortons recently faced criticism of its U.S. strategy from activist investors Highfields Capital Management LP of Boston and New Yorkbased Scout Capital Management LLC, which hold four and five per cent of the company's shares, respectively. Both investment firms pressured the company to scale back the U.S. expansion, and instead direct capital to share buybacks.
"The company's consistent and long-standing underperformance should long ago have been a wake-up to Tim Hortons' board and management," Scout said in a letter on June 25. "We urge you to curtail the use of the company's cash flow to fund real estate or new store capex in the U.S."
With a U.S. market share of only 2.7 per cent, according to retail consulting firm Technomic Inc., Tim Hortons hasn't been able to replicate the institutional status that it enjoys in Canada. The chain was founded in Hamilton in 1964 by late National Hockey League player Tim Horton, the man credited with inventing the slap shot. The chain plays off its founder's hockey roots, sponsoring minor hockey development programs, and can be found in practically every city in the country. The company has 3,453 locations in Canada, more than McDonald's Corp.