CHESTERMERE – Some habits are tough to break. You’ll know this if you were ever a smoker or had a habit of chewing on your toenails. However there are some habits that you look forward to each and every day. Most of the residents in Chestermere commute to Calgary for their daily work and what a comfort it is to plunk a Timmie’s into the cup holder on the console of your car or truck for the drive to work. “The Chestermere Tim Hortons is one of the busiest locations in the country” says owner/franchisee, Andrew Marriott. “Luckily for the tremendous team members and larger restaurant service area, we are able to accommodate extra equipment and staffing levels to also make this one of the fastest drive thru’s in Alberta” added Marriott. On average it takes 15 seconds per car to go from the order window to the pay window. There probably are many people who see the long line up and decide not to pull in and wait but others have their timing down to a science and a focus on their FIX. Andrew tells me there is hopefully some relief on the way. Two things: firstly Andrew says “We have secured a new location in the Applewood area – just inside Stony Trail on 17th Avenue SE; we believe this will take a bit of pressure off the Chestermere location”. Good news! Secondly, and closer to home, he has proposed a plan to the Town of Chestermere to have a double order station/lane queue for the drive thru. “This would increase our lane from 12 cars without blocking any parking to 18 cars in the drive thru, and instead of stacking onto the road at 18 cars; this new double laneway could accommodate 34 cars inside our site”. Better yet! This could take place as early as spring of 2013 however there are many discussions and planning meetings that still need to take place with the Town Engineering folks.
Andrew mentioned “Compared with many other Tim Hortons restaurants we have noticed that our community chooses to utilize the drive thru more often that inside our restaurant”. He added “More so now with distracted driving laws, we see our guests using this drive thru time to make a quick phone call or send a text while stationary”.
Asked if there were plans on opening a second location in Chestermere and he says he had looked in the Rainbow Falls area but thought as Chestermere grows west of Rainbow Road he would then look at opportunities to add a second location. The double lane (not to be confused with a Double Double) has been successful in over 100 other locations. Andrew says “The double order station has proven to increase the efficiency of the drive thru and the speed in which we can execute orders”; and adds “We are very excited about this concept”. “I truly believe will be a 100% fix to the stress we currently see at our drive thru queue lane”. Good things come to those that wait. – in line
