Tim Hortons holds flashy opening in Iqaluit

Katie Inukshuk, the manager of the Tim Hortons outlet at the Northmart store in Iqaluit, holds an ulu to cut a ribbon at Dec. 3 official opening of the Tim Hortons outlets in Iqaluit. Others attending the event included Iqaluit West MLA Paul Okalik, third from left, and singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark, chair of the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation. (PHOTO BY GABRIEL ZARATE)

Often called Canada’s “iconic” food franchise, Tim Horton’s made good on its national status with the grand opening of three new Iqaluit locations on Dec. 3.

“We’re finally coast to coast to coast, sea to sea to sea,” the company’s senior executive vice-president Nick Javor said at an opening ceremony held in at the Northmart food court in Iqaluit.

About 20 hopeful consumers lined up outside the entrance to Tim Horton’s new home in the Northmart, waiting for the doors to open after the half a dozen speakers had finished their speeches.

To accommodate the unusual challenge of supplying remote Iqaluit Tim Horton’s contracted a local partner, the North West Co., to assist.

This means local servers will be drawn from North West Co. staff, including the manager of Iqaluit’s Tim Hortons, Katie Inukshuk, who was formerly in charge of the Northern store in her hometown of Arviat.

During the opening weekend Tim Hortons and the North West Co. held several fundraising-events for the two companies’ associated charities: the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation and the Embrace Life Council.

Susan Aglukark, chair of the foundation, gave a benefit concert on the evening of Dec. 4 in the Nakasuk School gym, with complimentary Tim Hortons coffee and donuts on hand for the audience.

Despite its recent arrival, Tim Hortons has already become a visible part of Iqaluit life in a less desirable fashion: branded disposable cups accumulating in the litter that covers city streets.

To stem this trend, Tim Hortons has decided to knock 10 cents from the price of a coffee if the customer brings in a travel mug, said Tim Horton’s Javor.

“They [customers] just will do their bit to present the environment,” Javor said. “It’s all about consumer education.”

Originally the company had planned to give away one-of-a-kind Tim Hortons travel mugs bearing the company’s Inuktitut logo on it to the first 1,000 customers, but problems in the printing delayed that promotion.

However, customers will be able to order the mugs by email in the new year, Javor said.