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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknifers anticipating a downtown Tim Hortons may have to hold their breath for a while longer.

Taylor Kaomayok serves up some Tim Hortons coffee for drivers. Plans to open a Tim Hortons franchise downtown continue to be stalled because a suitable location has yet to be found. - NNSL file photo

While Tim Hortons Inc. representatives have been in town as recently as last week, scoping out various sites that might suit the company and the franchisee, lack of a suitable spot has narrowed the chances of the popular coffee chain opening downtown this year.

"We continue to attempt to find a suitable location in the downtown area but continue to be stalled with finding a suitable location," said Greg Barton, who owns the Old Airport Rd. Tim Hortons with wife Deborah. "I have no idea when the location might happen or even if it will occur this year," he stated in an email to Yellowknifer. "Any other information would be a pure guess."

Efforts to find either a restaurant-style location or the ideal drive-thru location have not been hampered at all by the City, Barton emphasized, adding "they are totally on board."

The City has suggested sites and people the company might want to talk to, and offered other recommendations, Mayor Gord Van Tighem said.

"We are on board and working with them trying to find them a site," he said.

A job posting last August for full-time counter staff for a downtown Yellowknife Tim Hortons reignited speculation that a franchise of the popular coffee chain was targeted to open in the city's core.

Public affairs manager Alexandra Cygal at Tim Hortons Inc. headquarters in Oakville, Ont., told Yellowknifer the hiring notice seen was for the existing restaurant.

In response to Yellowknifer requests for more information regarding a future downtown location, Cygal confirmed the restaurant opening has been delayed.

"Unfortunately, this location has been delayed but we continue to work to add more locations in Yellowknife for the convenience of our guests," she stated in an e-mail, adding it is unknown when a new location might open.

"I can't offer any timelines at this point," she stated.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said discussions to bring a Tim Hortons downtown have been going on for the last couple years, since rumours have persisted.

"Rumours have been flying for a couple of years," Van Tighem said. "Every time a commercial property came up for sale or got sold and nobody knew what it was, they'd say 'must be Tim Hortons.'

"I know they'd prefer to have it sooner rather than later."

Gourmet Cup owner Leslie Bromley personally does not want the franchise to come sooner than later.

"Personal thoughts, no, I don't want any more competition downtown," Bromley said. "But as a retailer, competition is a part of your lifestyle and if they come downtown, then so be it and I hope that we could work together, and I really have no hard feelings against them coming in."

Bromley said she has not heard anything concrete about the downtown Tim Hortons plans, but has heard the possibility that it might not happen at all.

"I really haven't heard anything concrete beyond the fact that it's not happening soon," she said. "Plus, the possibility that it might not be happening at all. And beyond that I really don't know anything because I really haven't heard anything different. I think we're all in the dark."

Bromley said she is confident the chain will not land in the Yk Centre, where her coffee shop has occupied the lower level for the past five years.

"It's very unlikely they would be moving into my building," Bromley said. "Typically, you only have one type of business at a time -- one flower shop, one chocolatier."

In past years, the Yk Tim Hortons has ranked among the chain's most popular locations in North America. While Tim Hortons does not disclose restaurant rankings, the public affairs officer said the Yellowknife franchise "continues to be in the top performing restaurants."

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