Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
I wouldn't call Starbucks a flop (unfortunately), but they can only dream of the kind of customer base Tims gets.
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Starbucks doesn't need the sort of business that Tim Horton's gets. The markup that they have on their drinks is greater than that of Tim Horton's and there is usually a line of people at many locations. In fact I think that Starbucks would crumble if they ever did have the lineups that Tims has, due to the fact that drinks need to be made to order often times and the time required is greater than pressing a button and having sugar and cream come out of a machine. If they did have the long lineups it would quickly turn into a situation in which people would be waiting for 10-15 minutes for a cup of coffee and the number of customers would dwindle as a result. I am sure that someone has put together a study of the optimal line length for different coffee shops.
I don't think that either company (or the franchises) are doing poorly - although the key for both is to have a parking lot - the ones I have seen fail (Starbucks that is) are ones that rely entirely upon walk-up traffic in stand-alone locations.