Alternative title: Monctonians are drinking less coffee.
One thing that struck me when I first moved to Moncton last year: the abundance of coffee shops downtown. No Starbucks, Second Cup or Van Houtte, mind you. But a Timothies, a pastry shop, three independents and of course, two Tim Hortens.
As of February 4th, the sole Tim Hortens downtown that stayed open in the evening will close, get this, at 6PM! 6 PM!? Moncton isn't a civil service or banking town (granted, insurance is big), it is a call centre town. 5000 people work in call centres in Moncton, at all hours of the day. Add to them all the other 24 hour industries, and you have to wonder, why are people drinking less coffee downtown?
Because in addition to Tim Horstens shorter hours, the espresso place at Hilcrest mall recently closed and so has Joe Moka, a freaking institution if you ask me. What's next, bar closures? What should we make of this recent major cut in coffee distribution downtown? Has your community seen recent coffee shop closures?
1 comment:
The reason that Tims probably closes early now is that that business drops off significantly and that the only people who do drop by are more interested in loitering and using the bathroom. My son worked at Tims on the corner of Alma and Main. It stayed open in the summer until 9 p.m. and the "crowd" definitely changed the minute the clock struck "6". Tips and business were nothing compared to daytime hours. Not a huge incentive to stay open. By closing at 6, shops are likely saving money because the amount of business done just isn't there to justify the cost of keeping staff on.
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