020547 Wendy's Outlines Canadian GrowthMay 24, 2002Dublin, OH - Wendy's International Inc. plans to open nearly 1,000 of its Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut restaurants in Canada over the next few years, the company announced. Wendy's plans to open 170 to 180 Tim Hortons restaurants a year in Canada for the next few years, aiming for more than 3,000 stores. The company also opened a new coffee roasting business to supply the restaurants. "Our sales growth (in Canada) has been very strong in the last 10 years," Paul House, president and chief operating officer of the chain, said Thursday at Wendy's analyst and investor meeting featuring the subsidiary. Tim Hortons, founded in 1964, is the largest bakery and baked goods chain in Canada, with 2,048 locations. Dublin-based Wendy's, the nation's third-largest hamburger chain, and Tim Hortons merged in 1995. There are 145 Tim Hortons in the United States, nearly all in Michigan, Ohio and the Buffalo, N.Y. market. The company said it plans to open 25 to 30 new U.S. restaurants this year, starting with four in a new market, Rochester, N.Y. U.S. same-store sales for the chain are up 10% year-to-date, and rose 16% in April, House said. Last fall Wendy's bought a roasting plant from Sara Lee Coffee and Tea and renovated it, for a total investment of $4.5 million. The plant eventually will have capacity to roast 35 million pounds a year. Wendy's stock closed down 38 cents to $37.02 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, which also has more than 6,000 Wendy's restaurants, had sales of $8.3 billion in 2001, including $1.5 billion in Tim Hortons sales.
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