Owners to sell Cambridge Tim Hortons after 55 years in business

Cambridge Tim Hortons celebrates milestone The Water Street Tim Hortons was one of the first to open in Canada. CTV’s Tyler Kelaher meets the owners who are selling it.

Long before drive-thrus and even Timbits – one of the first Tim Hortons opened up in Cambridge, 55 years ago.

The location at 275 Water Street has been serving up double-doubles with a smile ever since.

“My parents opened the store in 1968,” said Dwayne McGlinchey, who owns the franchise with his wife Cherly. “Hard work, seven days a week.”

The Tim Hortons has stayed in the McGlinchey family all this time.

“When my dad opened in 1968 with the ninth store nobody knew who Tim Horton was. It was a lot of hard work by a lot of hard working people,” said Dwayne.

The menu was very basic back then. Customers could only purchase coffee and baked goods. The coffee was just 25 cents.

The franchise value has also changed quite a bit – in those days you could buy a Tim Hortons like the one in Cambridge, for only $35,000.

But customers always came first for the owners.

“When I was pregnant with this little one, the employees put together a baby gift basket for when she was born and they were very much like a family,” said longtime customer Jessie Percival.

Regulars said the staff is one-of-a-kind.

“I’ve been coming here for 55 years. Staff are friendly, they get to know your order, they call you by name,” said Cathy Boult, a longtime customer.

Staff aren’t just considered family – they are family. The restaurant is managed by Dwayne’s sister and some employees have worked there for more than three decades.

“[Since] 1989. 34 years. Long time. I was a teenager,” said Chrissy Osterthe, an employee. “I was working with friends and then they became family.”

The family is selling the business next month – marking the end of an era.

Dwayne and Cheryl are riding off into the sunset but what they’ll always carry the fond memories with them.

“The staff we have here are pretty amazing. We got a lot of people that have been with us for 25 to 35 years. Without those people, we wouldn’t have had the success that we’ve had,” Dwayne said.