Magnetawan First Nation to open up a new franchise along Highway 69
By Rick Garrick
MAGNETAWAN FIRST NATION—Magnetawan First Nation is busy with the process of opening up a Tim Horton’s coffee shop and Esso gas station on Highway 69 by Dec. 1.
“We started this [initiative] quite a number of years back and we got very aggressive two years ago in moving forward with it,” says Magnetawan Chief William Diabo. “We finally got to a point where we’ve been approved for us to be a [Tim Horton’s] franchisee. That just happened a couple of weeks ago.”
Diabo says the community plans to locate their Tim Horton’s coffee shop in a new 1,800 square-foot gas station-convenience store-coffee shop building they are currently constructing along the highway in their community.
“Whether we got a Tim Horton’s or not, we were building a new service station and a new convenience store,” Diabo says. “We are probably six-to-eight weeks out from opening.”
Diabo says the Tim Horton’s coffee shop will take up about one-third of the building.
“We were going to go small, but we decided that we are going to a full-size Tim Horton’s with a drive-through,” Diabo says.
Diabo says the Tim Horton’s, Esso gas and convenience store businesses will likely start with 20-25 staff. A job fair was held for the new positions on Sept. 27.
“This is an advantage to our surrounding communities for employment as well,” Diabo says. “It won’t be just all Magnetawan [staff].”
Diabo says the community decided to open an Esso gas station after first looking at getting better fuel pricing for their small no-name gas station.
“We are going to be an Esso, so we’ve got a branded station which is going to be attractive,” Diabo says. “[We’ll have] fleet sales for people with Esso fleet cards.”
Diabo says the Esso gas station will have four rows of pumps with regular, super, and diesel fuel.
“Hopefully that complements the Tim Horton’s,” Diabo says. “More people that come in to buy fuel are going to come in to buy coffee. More people that come in to see Horton’s are likely going to buy fuel from us. So I think the two are going to complement each other and hopefully it will give us a chance to grow in our economic ventures on this First Nation.”
Diabo says the community jumped at the opportunity to invest in a Tim Horton’s franchise after a Tim Horton’s coffee shop to the south of the community closed due to the twinning of Highway 69 from Barrie to Sudbury.
“We are right on the highway route and we are going to be the last ones to have the highway work done,” Diabo says, estimating the community has about seven years before the highway will be twinned in their area. “The new highway will take that [access] away, but the new highway will have an interchange on my First Nation just a little bit south. My intent is to put a larger establishment in there which would potentially be a truck stop.”
Diabo says the community plans to relocate the Tim Horton’s and Esso businesses to the interchange location once it is built.
“We’re hoping that [the customer base] we establish in the next five years being directly on the road, once they become familiar and they know we have a Tim Horton’s for a stop it becomes what they are used to and Magnetawan becomes a stopping point,” Diabo says. “And when we do move, it’s going to be something they are always looking forward to stopping at and I think it will always just carry on at a new site.”