First Coffee & Donuts - Now, A World of Food Items
The Tim Horton’s franchise chain began with a single location in Hamilton, Ontario [Canada] in 1964.  The restaurant was named after one of its ownership partners, National Hockey league star Tim Horton.  Tim Horton’s franchises originally sold only coffee and donuts, growing especially popular with its Canadian clientele after developing two specialty donuts, the Apple Fritter and the Dutchie.  Items were continually added to the menu throughout the 1970s and 1980s - mostly treats but eventually soups and sandwiches.  Even after Horton lost his life in a car accident in 1974, the franchise continued to grow exponentially under his name.  Franchises were eventually opened in the United States as well as across Canada.

Tim Horton’s Franchise Review
There are more than 350 Tim Horton’s franchise locations in the United States, plus more than 2,750 stores in Canada.  The company’s Canadian operation is said to be more than 95 percent franchise-owned, with a similar goal in mind for operations south of the border.  In 1995, Tim Horton’s merged with Wendy’s International Inc., which is what helped spur growth in the United States.  Nearly every U.S.

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PR NewsWire:

The SUBWAY(R) restaurant chain, the world’s largest submarine sandwich franchise, is proud to announce that it has named six outstanding franchisees as recipients of its 2009 Franchisee of the Year awards and three highly respected members of its development community as recipients of its Development Agent of the Year awards during the company’s recent convention in Washington D.C.

SUBWAY(R) Franchisee of the Year awards are presented to the overall winners of the multi-unit and single unit owner categories from North America and the chain’s international emerging and developed markets.

Selected from among the chain’s more than 15,000 franchisees from around the world, the six recipients are: Ashwin Dhanuka of Mumbai, India; Saeeda Rehman Malik of London, England; Lee Jamieson and Tom Jamieson of Bakersfield California; Lana Vieira Martins of Brasilia, Brazil; Hazel Johnstone and Mark Johnstone of Toowoomba, Queensland Australia; and Jonathan Feld of New York, New York.

Competing among 75 regional finalists from around the globe, the Franchisees of the Year are honored for accomplishments such as adding new stores, building sales and increasing profitability while also achieving excellent store evaluations.

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Atlanta News:

Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises, parent company of the Popeyes chicken chain, reported Wednesday a 4.3 percent increase in global same-store sales for the second quarter.

Popeyes helped boost traffic through promotions, including a one-day offer that featured 8 pieces of chicken for $4.99. The chain said it also benefited from lower commodity costs and saw improvements in its guest experience monitoring survey.

AFC reported net income in the second quarter of $6.4 million, compared to $6.6 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding other non-operating income, net income was $4.7 million in the second quarter, compared to $4.3 million last year, AFC said in a press release accompanying the results.

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Yahoo! News:

Fast food giant McDonald’s on Tuesday lost an eight-year trademark battle against a Malaysian curry restaurant after the country’s highest court allowed the latter to use the prefix ‘Mc’.

Malaysia’s Federal Court dismissed an application by McDonald’s Corporation to appeal against an earlier Appeals Court judgment which allowed McCurry to use the prefix.

Chief Judge of Malaya Ariffin Zakaria, reading the verdict of the three-person Federal Court in the administrative capital, said McDonald’s had failed to properly frame its questions when applying to challenge the Appeals Court’s earlier verdict.

“It is unfortunate that we have to dismiss the application with costs,” Ariffin said.

McCurry, which is short for “Malaysian Chicken Curry,” serves Malaysian staples including fish head curry, according to the company website (www.mccurryrecipe.com).

“We feel great that this eight-year legal battle is finally over, and we can now go ahead with whatever we plan to do such as opening new branches,” McCurry owner P. Suppiah told Reuters after the court decision.

McDonald’s, which has 185 outlets in Malaysia, first sued the curry restaurant in 2001 and a High Court ruled in favor of the international fast food chain in 2006.

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PR Newswire:

Baskin-Robbins, America’s favorite ice cream shop, is rapidly expanding its national footprint with today’s announcement that Charleston, South Carolina is now open for franchise sales. More than 12 new stores are projected throughout Charleston and the surrounding area over the next several years.

Baskin-Robbins currently operates more than 6,000 stores in 35 countries and opened more than 600 stores globally in 2008. With a domestic footprint of nearly 2,700 locations, Baskin-Robbins is now seeking exceptional franchisee candidates in Charleston to be part of an unprecedented growth campaign designed to increase its U.S. presence over time. Built over the last 64 years, Baskin-Robbins currently enjoys 98 percent brand awareness across the country and was named for the second consecutive year the number one ice cream and frozen dessert franchise in Entrepreneur magazine’s annual “Franchise 500″ ranking.

To fuel this growth in and around Hilton Head, Baskin-Robbins is actively seeking store developers who possess strong financial backgrounds, the desire to maximize their territory’s sales and have a passion for the communities they will serve.

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The Lindsay Post:

Lindsay’s Boston Pizza promises to be a big community supporter and during the Friday night grand opening party for the new restaurant, franchisee John Fox put his money where his mouth is.

As staff presented Greg McPherson of Kawartha Lakes Food Source with a cheque for $3,500 raised from gratuities received during a half dozen ‘dress rehearsal’ nights, Fox announced that Boston Pizza would match that amount, bringing the donation to a total of $7,000.

The presentation was made as the 101st store in the chain was packed with special guests invited to sample the menu and check out the 435 Kent Street West location.

It seats more than 300 in the dining room, sports bar and patio and features memorabilia provided by the Lindsay and District Sports Hall of Fame. Another local touch is seats made by Lindsay-based Holsag Canada. The store also features a 103-inch HD television. As he addressed the crowd, City of Kawartha Lakes Mayor Ric McGee pointed to the giant screen and joked that it might be the answer for wives wondering where their husbands are.

The location was the result of years of planning for Fox, who is also the general manager of Lindsay’s Canadian Tire. He hired employee Eva Costello to manage the restaurant.

Both shared many jokes with the crowed during the opening ceremonies.

Fox teased Costello for being able to plan her own wedding and quit smoking in the lead up to the opening and Costello jazzed Fox for being able to pull himself away from his other business a couple of blocks away.

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Franchising.com:

 The Inc. 500/5,000 list is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy - America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.

“Recognition of this sort is not only terrific for Café Yumm!, but it is terrific for the State of Oregon and all that we do as a leader in sustainable business practices and healthy lifestyles,” explained Café Yumm! co-founder Mark Beauchamp.

The Inc. 500/5,000 ranking follows on the heels of the Portland Business Journal’s recent award to Café Yumm! as No. 9 on its list of fastest growing privately held companies in Oregon. Café Yumm! improved its ranking over 2008 when it was listed as No. 56 on the Top 100 List of Fastest-Growing Food and Beverage Companies and No. 2,288 on the Top 5,000 List of Fastest-Growing Companies.

Other Oregon companies in this year’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Food and Beverage Category include Living Harvest Foods in Portland and Foodguys in Wilsonville.

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India Journal:

“Franchising and Networking is the new mantra to becoming successful in today’s world”, speakers Rajiv Trivedi, VP of La Quinta Corp & Rhonda Sher, Author of ‘The Two Minute Networker’,  said as they addressed a packed audience at the Sheraton  here, during the TIE Southern California monthly meeting on Aug. 19, on the subject - Franchising: The New Solution.

Rajiv Trivedi, under whose leadership, La Quinta Inns and Suites has become a top franchise organization, said, it requires four areas to work on to make a company or an individual successful. These are leadership, culture, success sharing and challenges. He said leadership is attitude, confidence and thinking out of the box. Similarly, one needs to create a culture of commitment, transparency and treating everybody equal to make an organization successful. He further added that sharing success makes one more successful. While defining success, he said, it is about the people you are surrounded by, searching sense of security for one-self and for others and understanding one’s power and limitations.

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