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nfitz said:
They do indeed.

http://www.robinsdonuts.com/locations.aspx lists 142 locations From Newfoundland to British Columbia. Driving across Canada, they seemed to be everywhere outside of southern Ontario, Quebec, and coastal BC.

Maybe you need to spend more time in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Charlottetown, St. Johns, and Saskatoon.

At 142 locations, surely it's the biggest Canadian chain there is, assuming the original poster's comments that Tim's is now Brazilian are correct..
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The same company -- Chairman's Brands -- that owns Robin's Donuts also owns Coffee Time, Eggsmart, 241 Pizza, and New Orleans Pizza.
 
mjl08 said:
More trouble at Second Cup.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...nouncement-follows-ceos-exit/article34967748/
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Second Cup needs to buy back its shares, go private, eliminating all the bad press and shareholder whining, shutdown all the underperforming sites and reinvent itself as a smaller player focused on a quality experience.

First thing, ditch the wi-fi, like these guys http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...are-pulling-the-plug-on-wifi/article34859828/

Those unprofitable, man-bun wearing, screenplay-writing losers and students who buy one coffee and sit there for hours on their laptops should be exiled to Starbucks. If you're on this list, you can see these loiterers sucking up your profits http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2017/03/cafes-studying-and-free-wi-fi-toronto/

The updates listed here should work, provided the underperforming stores are ditched, http://www.chatelaine.com/recipes/food-news/second-cup-coffee-trouble/
 
WiFi really isn't the issue - Second Cup is a chain, nobody is going to mistake it for some boutique one shop cafe that can pretend to be hip and countercultural. It's more you're paying Starbucks prices without a Starbucks level of experience (decor, staff, consistency, product appeal/marketing).

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
That's not really the issue. It's more you're paying Starbucks prices without a Starbucks level of experience (beyond its' awful coffee)

AoD
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Yes, that's the first step, making the product right. That said, I only drink drip or pressed coffee, always black. IMO, coffee and cow squeezing don't go together and beige is a gross colour for a drink, and I find Second Cup's not bad.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Yes, that's the first step, making the product right. That said, I only drink drip or pressed coffee, always black. IMO, coffee and cow squeezing don't go together and beige is a gross colour for a drink, and I find Second Cup's not bad.
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It's not the quality of the product - particularly coffee - which I prefer over Starbucks. The fact is - their franchise stores are just unappealing - neither slick in a Starbucks way nor smart/homely in a independent cafe way. And the staff is so variable - and often have a je ne sais quoi service attitude about them (in a bad way). Like I go into a Starbucks - I feel awake by the energy of the staff, the decor before I even had the coffee; Second Cup - snooze.

To paraphrase Ruby Rhod in Fifth element:

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! Korben, sweetheart, what was that? IT WAS BAD! It had nothing! No fire, no energy, no nothin'! You know I have a show to run here, you know? Hmm? Hmm? And it must pop, Pop, POP! So tomorrow from five to seven, will you please act like you have more than a two word vo-cab-uh-lary? It must be green, OK? OK?

AoD
 
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Starbucks does it well because they're all corporate stores. Money can be spent on decor, staff recruiting, culture, training and motivation, while regional mgmt. can ensure quality of product and service. Second Cup is a franchise, IIRC, meaning every penny spent on the above comes out of the franchisee's pocket.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
WiFi really isn't the issue - Second Cup is a chain, nobody is going to mistake it for some boutique one shop cafe that can pretend to be hip and countercultural. It's more you're paying Starbucks prices without a Starbucks level of experience (decor, staff, consistency, product appeal/marketing).

AoD
Click to expand...

With their high prices and dull in-store experience, people don't go back for a Second Cup.
 
Not sure about anyone else, but SecondCup, I found at a good handful of locations across the city to be overall stingy, really stingy.
 
There are tons of Canadian coffee chains, the hard part is figuring which ones are good.
 
Admiral Beez said:
now they're looking to cannabis to save the day
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Guaranteed this works out for them.

I don't use ganja even remotely regularly. I don't really like the effects and sometimes it gives me anxiety attacks, but I would so go chill at a "coffee shop" coffee shop any day of the week.

Make it so! Throw in some psilocybin "moon cakes" and we have my new second home. Pints at the pub are overrated.

If someone like me is interested in the idea, I think it'll go over well with actual ganja users.
 
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