Two new Tim Hortons locations will be opening within minutes of Chestermere, which could cause line-ups at the local coffee shop to ease somewhat.
Andrew Marriott, owner of the restaurant and coffee shop known by many simply as ‘Timmies’, located on the busy corner of Chestermere Blvd and Chestermere Station Way is getting ready to open two new stores in the coming weeks and both will be convenient for most Chestermere residents to visit.
These will be Marriott’s third and fourth Tim Horton locations, and are well under way in Applewood & East Hills Walmart, just west of Chestermere on 17th Ave SE. Besides the Chestermere location and two new businesses, he also owns the Road King Truck Stop location in Calgary.
The first of the two new locations to open is Applewood, located at 17th Avenue and 71st Street SE is projected to open on March 11th. Marriott expects this location to be very busy serving the Chestermere commuters heading into Calgary. With double drive-thur lanes similar the Chestermere, the restaurant will be a perfect option for those looking to pick up a quick cup of java and some food before heading off to work, or on their way home after a long day.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Andrew says, referring to the development delays. “We started development at this corner over 3 ½ years ago; it has been a challenge to finally get this restaurant with drive thru open, however we are grateful for the patience of Tim Hortons and the support staff helping this project through.”
You can expect to see some familiar faces there as half a dozen team members from Chestermere will be transfering over. At 2500 sq. feet with 35 seats it is about 600 square feet smaller than its sister restaurant in Chestermere. You can expect a 24/7 drive thru operation, but the in-store restaurant will shut down from 11pm -5am.
“We have been thrilled with the response for team members; it appears that many residents of the Applewood area do come to Chestermere to patronize our main location, they are excited that they will be right around the corner from a new Tim Hortons – or even walk to the Applewood location.”
Shortly after the opening of Applewood, the Walmart East Hills is due to open on approximately March 28th, located at Stoney Trail and 17th Avenue SE. Marriott explains that he also expects this new Tim Hortons location inside of Walmart to be just as busy as the others as it will not only serve Calgary but also Chestermere and surrounding areas.
This location is the exclusive food and beverage restaurant in the Walmart but is considerably smaller than Marriott’s other locations. However, at only 1000 sq. ft. it will still be a full service restaurant with room to sit down.
“As the Walmart will open a couple of weeks after the main restaurant, we will move trained team members over to that location. We have had some students from Chestermere apply specifically for that restaurant and happy to hire Chestermere residents for that smaller site”, explains Marriott who has been with Tim Hortons for 19 years; 10 as a senior manager of Development & Engineering and nine as franchisee.
“It has been a very busy 12-16 months for me,” says Marriott, “after taking over the Road King location, then doing a $1 million dollar expansion and renovation and opening up a couple of new locations within a 2 week period, many of my guests in Chestermere have commented that they have not seen me working the counters as much. This is an evolution of my business, and proud to be able to grow with my in-store management team – and offer them growth within my expanding business. I still love working my tills and cleaning tables, but I have enjoyed the change into the administrative role.”
