Tim Hortons Doughnut Story

Famous Canadian author Pierre Berton once observed: "In so many ways the story of Tim Hortons is the essential Canadian story. It is a story of success and tragedy, of big dreams and small towns, of old-fashioned values and tough-fisted business, of hard work and of hockey."

The Toronto Sun tells some of the story of Tim Hortons and how its founder Ron Joyce, a poor boy from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia built the donut franchise chain around a silent partner, Toronto Maple-Leaf hockey star, Tim Horton.

Ten years later his all-star partner was killed in an auto accident.

Joyce believes one of the secrets of his success was the careful selection and training of his franchisees. One of his innovations was the creation of "Donut University", a central training facility for new franchise owners. Newbies would learn the ropes in a classroom in the basement of a Hamilton store, and put what they learned to practice upstairs, learning to cope with the fast pace before they opened their own facility.