ST. ALBERT, Alta — After nearly 39 years — 38 and 10 months, to be exact — the Jenkins family is moving on from their reign of Tim Hortons franchise ownership in St. Albert.
On July 7, the family officially handed over the keys to all five of their locations of the cultural staple.
Art and Joan Jenkins moved from Ontario to St. Albert in 1983 to open the first Tim Hortons in the city. Their son Chad, the now-former majority owner, said the decision to sell this year was a family choice.
Chad's two business partners and brothers-in-law, Steven Crump and Stephen Lowry, "experienced some difficulties in their personal lives," he said.
"It just put them into a position where they had to evaluate things a little differently," Chad said. "Sometimes you have to do what’s best for family."
Three separate ownership groups have taken over the Jenkinses's stores, splitting the five locations amongst each other, Chad said. One of the ownership groups is based in Edmonton, another group owns the Tim Hortons in St. Albert Centre and locations in Wetaskiwin, and the third is from Sturgeon County.
On top of bringing Tim Hortons to St. Albert, the Jenkinses are widely known for their dedicated community involvement and event sponsorship. When Chad confirmed the news of the sale on a June 25 Facebook post, dozens of comments and well wishes poured in for the Jenkins family.
While a complete list of every community group, event, school, sports team, and business that the Jenkinses supported over the years would be extensive, the International Children's Festival is one event the family has been involved in for more than 20 years.
“Tim Hortons in St. Albert is synonymous with the [Children's] Festival,” said Troy Funk, the festival's fund development coordinator.
“[The Jenkinses] were such a huge champion with bringing it to the next level when Tim Hortons took over being the presenting sponsor in 2003," Funk said. The family first sponsored the festival in 1999, and in 2003, after Art brought Tim Hortons corporate on board, Tim Hortons became the presenting sponsor of the festival.
“Their hands-on approach to community events is second to none," Funk said. "We’ve had some cold festival days — in the early days there was even days with snow — and they just went with the flow. Wherever they could support the festival, they’d support us.”
When asked, Chad said the only regret he has after years of community involvement is that he and his family didn't do more.
"I’ve learned a lot about my community," Chad said. "I’ve learned a lot about the people ... and what’s important to them. It makes me feel good to have been a part of that.
“A lot of the things that I tried to do was maintain my parent’s legacy for their work, and at the same time, develop a few things on my own to make things work for everyone.”
'They started calling me Tim'
When Art and Chad arrived at the Tim Hortons on Hebert Road the morning of July 13, they were greeted with hugs from staff.
Art, now 82, walks with a cane, but doesn't miss a step.
“Nobody knew who Tim Horton was because [the franchise] originated in Ontario," Art said of his experience during the first year he opened a Tim Hortons in St. Albert.
"We came out here and they started calling me Tim. I heard it so often that I just responded to it."
In the beginning, Art said, he and his wife and business partner, Joan, would work opposite shifts. Art took the night shift, baking donuts, pies, and muffins in the early-morning hours before Joan would arrive at 5 a.m. to get the coffee brewing.
"She’d tell you the story of how there was another bakery in town, and I don’t want to name names, but the guy from that bakery came in. [Joan] was working behind the counter and ... he talked to her and he said, ‘You know you’ll never make it, your prices are too high,' and [Joan] came back crying,” Art said.
Local competitors weren't the only ones Art recalled doubting the business.
“When we first opened the store [we needed a lawyer,] and the very first guy we talked to said ‘You’re telling me that you came from Ontario to St. Albert, and you’re going to make a living selling coffee and donuts — are you sure that’s what you want to do?’ and I shook his hand and said, ‘Thank you very much for your time.'"
Art said it wasn't long after 1983 when he and Joan developed the business philosophy that would go on to define their time in St. Albert.
"If you have a business in a community like St. Albert, and you just take the money and go home, and never put something back into it, you’ll never survive.”
"In order to start this business, I’d drive around with a big box of donuts in the back of my car, dozens of donuts, and I’d go over to the fire department, city police, service clubs, and call the schools and just give it away — give the product away,” Art said.
One of many people Art came to know by giving back to the community in the 1980s was Gary Malanchen of the St. Albert Cruisers, the group behind the annual Autorama car show.
“For all the years I knew [Malanchen], he never, ever, came through the front door," Art said. "[He’d] walk in the back, and I had this big office in the back ... and [Malanchen] would walk in and say ‘How’re you doing this morning?’ and grab a coffee,” Art said.
In response, Malanchen — sitting next to Art at the Tim Hortons — said, “I hated to go into his office because he had a huge desk, and it’s heaped with change and dollar bills, because no one used credit cards or debit cards."
"I’m in that room and I’m looking around for cameras and whatnot and [Art's working at the front counter] and I’m in the back with all this cash — how do you think I got the Corvette!” Malanchen joked, sharing a belly-laugh with longtime friends.
