New Tim Hortons in Harrow

by Shelbey Hernandez

Harrow will soon have a Tim Hortons after years of being one of the few towns in Essex County without one.

The new Tim Hortons is being built where the Harrow Feed Store was located at the corner of Queen Street and Centre Street East.

Bill Baker, Essex Town Council Ward 3 Coun. who says he drinks approximately two Tim Hortons coffees a day and has to go to Kingsille to get his coffee, said a Tim Hortons would benefit Harrow economically.

“What it is doing is signaling the fact that there’s interest in our area and with all the other things that are happening, such as the winery development, things that are happening down in the south shore area, it will create interest for other development,” said Baker. “So from a tourist point of view, people will realize that there’s development that’s happening.

Baker also said Harrow has a traditional culture and some people might be concerned.

“There are going to be some other people who are concerned because their smaller businesses might be affected,” said Baker. “But also you have to realize that there’s other development going on such as a large manufacturing development going on at the same time. So that’s all going to create a lot of interest.”

Feed Store owner Brian Renaud said his business won’t be affected but others might.

“If someone was going to hurt it would be the coffee shops in town,” said Renaud. “but as far as restaurants go, I don’t think it is going to affect them much.”

Renaud also said the new Tim Hortons would only attract attention for a short amount of time.

“Of course I think when something new comes in town it’s always a novelty so it will draw attention to it for a while,” said Renaud. “But I think people will get back to normal and go to their coffee shops they used to go to or go elsewhere.”

As a local store owner, Renaud said he thinks Tim Hortons will help give him more business in the long run.

“If people are out for a drive and they want to go for a coffee or something like that, they’re going to be in the area,” he said. “So they might have to go to a store to get something which could be my store.”
Joan Affleck, a resident in Harrow who lives two doors down from where the new Tim Hortons will be located, said she is not too happy about it.

“I don’t know if I really care for it just down at the end of my street too much because it might create a lot of extra traffic and maybe some noise,” said Affleck.

Affleck also said she is unsure how well Tim Hortons will do because of the small population of Harrow. The town has a population of approximately 2,713 according to the 2011 Harrow population census.

“I don’t even know if there is enough business here to support something like that. This isn’t a very big town to support a Tim Hortons because usually for something like Tim Hortons to make money, the town has a lot of business,” said Affleck. “So whether they will get their quota here that they were looking for it is going to be hard to say.”

Affleck said Tim Hortons is unlikely to make a huge impact because of other competitors such as McDonald’s.

John VamBraeckel, who lives across the street from the new Tim Hortons, said it will be great for the community, especially for his grandchildren who have to travel to Kingsville to get their coffee during high school breaks.

“No, we don’t think it is going to affect us. I’m all for it. I don’t like Tim Hortons coffee, but I won’t be bothered with it. As far as traffic goes, it is going to be a reasonable amount of traffic and I think it is going to be good for the community anyways,” said VamBraeckel.

VamBraeckel also said other nearby towns have a Tim Hortons so it is “about time we got something to boost up the community.”

As of now, the old Feed Store has been torn down and only dirt lies where the new Tim Hortons will be built. The Feed Store has already re-opened in its new location.

According to Phil Lavalle, the owner of Ros-Bay Developments, who is in charge of the project, the Tim Hortons is expected to open in February 2014.