National Post (National Edition)
TIM HORTONS LAYS OUT PATH BACK TO DINING INSIDE.
HOPES TO OPEN DINING ROOMS NEXT MONTH WILL SANITIZE TABLES, CHAIRS AFTER EACH USE STARBUCKS TO FOCUS ON TAKEOUT
TORONTO • Tim Hortons executives are meeting with franchisees this week to map out a return to normal, starting with reopening dining rooms as soon as provincial governments say it’s okay for customers to sit down in restaurants again.
The new plan revolves around tables: Tim Hortons will widen the space between tables; it will sanitize them, as well as chairs, after each use; and it will limit the number of customers allowed at any given table to no more than four.
These are incremental and expected moves, just the first of many little bricks needed to rebuild a blissfully unremarkable fast food dining experience.
“Every business out there is looking for a path back to normal,” said Duncan Fulton, chief corporate officer at Tim Hortons’ parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc.
For Tim Hortons, that path to normal involves convincing commuters it is all right to stop for coffee as they start to re-establish morning routines.
“When you see a team member sanitize the table and the chairs, that’ll give you a great deal of confidence that it’s safe to sit down there,” said Fulton, who held video calls with franchisees on Monday to fill them in on the new procedures.
“We are ready to go with our procedures when government authorities believe it’s safe to open up again.”
Last week, New Brunswick relaxed its restrictions and allowed restaurants and other non-essential businesses to reopen. British Columbia’s multi-phase “restart plan” has cleared a path for restaurants to open as soon as the middle of May.
Fulton said Tim Hortons is expecting to be able to reopen in every province by next month. But with most provincial reopening plans tied to trends in new COVID-19 cases, it’s tough to be sure. “No one knows yet. It seems to be trending towards some point in June,” he said.
Starbucks Canada, however, said it was expecting to resume operations at 65 per cent of stores by the end of the week, and 85 per cent by the end of this month.
The company said it will require its more than 20,000 returning staff members to go through a three-hour safety training program.
But Starbucks doesn’t seem close to reopening its sit-down areas.
In an open letter on Monday, Starbucks Canada president Lori Digulla said the chain will focus on methods that don’t involve customers entering a store — drivethru, delivery and pickup — but could expand to walk-in orders “as the environment and regulations change.”
Tim Hortons has only offered takeout, delivery and drive-thru since closing its dining rooms across Canada on March 17.
In the last quarter, Tim Hortons’ daily sales growth dropped more than 40 per cent compared to the previous year, according to its earnings report earlier this month.
RBI, which also owns Burger King and Popeyes, released its own open letter on Tuesday, one that is aimed at enticing customers back into restaurants after two months of economic shutdowns.
“We are working very hard to continue to build your confidence,” RBI chief executive Jose Cil wrote.
Across the RBI chain, tables will be separated by two metres, either by physically moving them or, when tables are bolted to the ground, by forbidding customers from using some tables with “beautiful tabletop signage,” Cil said.
The company is also looking at switching from throwaway face masks to reusable ones designed to become part of the standard staff uniform. Drive-thru staff at Tim Hortons already have a specialized tray with cupholders for passing coffee to customers without any
WORKING VERY HARD TO CONTINUE TO BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE.
chance of touching them.
RBI also has sneeze shields at checkout counters and has been conducting temperature checks on employees before they start work.
The restaurants will also need more staff on each shift to be able to wipe down every chair and table after a customer uses them.
“We have fully embraced the notion that parts of our restaurants need to change — certainly, for the foreseeable future and possibly forever,” Cil said.