Response from Kyle Steele
Hi Dewey and Amy,
Amy, a little over a month ago I had a conversation with you, outlining the process of which we went about coming to a decision to operate a Tim Hortons in the SUB. In that meeting, we seemed to be in agreement that if they did commit to some of the things we talked about, then this would not be that large of an issue. This is why I was taken a bit by surprise when I received this email and the email you sent me subsequently after our meeting. However, because of the concerns the two of you have outlined I will address them and explain why Tim Hortons will be the operation that opens in the SUB in September 09.
Firstly, they have committed to ensuring the promotion of their reusable mug program. This will save students 10 cents for every coffee that they buy and save on the amount of cups that are used. If you look around campus, most students can be seen carrying around a reusable mug, so I don’t feel that cups will be a big issue. However, if cups do become an issue, they have committed to using their 5 bin recycling system in our building to ensure that those cups are recycled properly. They will also be sponsoring our new water fountain in the SUB that we feel will make a very positive impact on bottled water purchasing on campus.
Yes, Tim Hortons does ship things in but so does Chartwells and there have been no issues raised with them that I have been made aware of over the last two and a half years. However, it’s really important to consider how cheap Tim Hortons is compared to some other operations - and this is what matters to most students. They want to be able to access a coffee shop that is easy on their pocket books as well as buying a product that they are familiar with and know what to expect. Furthermore, students will be receiving financial kickback from having a Tim Horton’s in the SUB as well, arguably more than most other operations could provide us, as it is operated by a local franchisee, not a head national office, we will be receiving a modest portion of the profit earned by the franchisee. This will be fed immediately into services like the Student Activities Fund and event programming just to name a few. They will also be hiring students - putting even more money back into student pockets.
The Tim Hortons will have a seating space for 45 people, which would certainly lend itself well to any sort of programming, however I should mention that there was rarely ever programming in the Perkin’s space when it was actually up in operation. All coffee houses were held in the Michener Lounge and that is most likely where they will continue to be held, although I feel that it is worth mentioning that the student who runs TAN coffee may opt to cater these events if those running the coffee houses wish to use him.
I appreciate the concerns of costs and outsourcing but the honest truth of it is that most students just want to have something familiar and inexpensive. We have performed several surveys and focus groups over the last couple of years and almost unanimously each group or survey said Tim Hortons is what they want to see in the SUB. They had the option of picking a Just Us! or some alternative but they didn’t, in fact that option finished last behind what was the current Perkin’s setup. For those who would like to go downtown and enjoy Just Us! or go into New Minas and buy TAN, they can do that. We don’t plan on twisting any arms to come to Tim Hortons, but this is what most students want and that is something that we cannot ignore.
I hope that you can understand where we’re coming from on this. It was not a snap decision, and one we made over the course of my 2 years in office and one that we are extremely confident in. It is also worth mentioning that the SRC did not bring up any issues with Tim Hortons and was in fact very excited about the proposition.
Thank you for your input,
Kyle Steele