Daily BrewTim Hortons opens first fly-in-only shop in northern Manitoba
Don't expect a drive-thru at the newest Tim Hortons location.
The iconic coffee chain has opened its first fly-in-only location, in the remote northern Manitoba town of Oxford House.
The First Nations community officially welcomed Timmies on Monday when the kiosk began serving coffee and doughnuts, but few of the other options found elsewhere.
Oxford House residents didn't seem to mind the simple menu, however. CTV News reported that hundreds of people came to celebrate the grand opening.
"Wherever I go, I see line-ups at Tim Hortons, usually at least 15 cars, and it is good to have it here, too," Chief Timothy Muskego told CTV News.
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It may not be the most remote Tim Hortons location in the world — that likely being in Iqaluit — but it is awfully close.
Because of its location, and the difficulty related to getting supplies that far north, prices will be slightly higher. A small coffee will cost $1.62, compared to $1.40 in Winnipeg. Doughnuts will cost a few pennies extra as well.
The community of about 2,800 sits some 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg and is only accessible in the summer by airplane.
In the winter, rough trucking roads are built over the ice and snow, making it slightly easier and less expensive to ship in food and supplies.
Getting affordable and nutritious food to the north is such an issue that Manitoba's government launched the Northern Healthy Foods Initiative to find ways to reduce the cost of health foods.
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According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the more notable addition to Oxford House's Northern Store, now home to the Tim Hortons kiosk, is an extra 12,000 square feet of warehouse space.
[T]he company increased the store's storage capacity more than fourfold, which will enable [Manitoba retailer] North West to haul in a lot more non-perishable goods during the winter road season because there's now a place to keep them. That, in turn, will mean flying in fewer goods during the rest of the year, which means lower prices for community residents.
So you could say the Tim Hortons store is merely the icing on the doughnut.
