Once-Popular Coffee Chain Now Extinct in Minnesota

A popular coffee shop once spread across Minnesota like weeds in your yard, opening 15 locations in just a few short years. But almost as quickly as it arrived, the entire chain vanished—leaving the state now without a single store.

Sadly, we're somewhat used to seeing news stories about once-popular stores or restaurants here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes that, thanks to changes brought on by the pandemic or our increasingly unsettled economy, have been forced to close their doors for good.

But this story about a now-extinct-in-Minnesota restaurant chain is a bit different because its locations left the North Star State before the first strains of the pandemic or tariffs ever made it to our fair state.

How a Coffee Giant Tried and Failed in Minnesota

In fact, about four years before any of us had ever heard of the coronavirus, a popular coffee chain based in Canada was expanding about as quickly as those yellow dandelions pop up in a Minnesota lawn in the spring and summer. But less than three years later, they were all gone for good.

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Which chain are we talking about? That would be Tim Hortons, the coffee chain named for the former NHL star who opened a small coffee shop in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada back in 1964. It's since grown to become a massive chain and was recently ranked fifth on this list of the 15 Best Coffee Shops in America.

The Rise and Fall of Tim Horton's 15 Minnesota Locations

Back in 2016, Tim Hortons was expanding across Minnesota, opening locations throughout the Twin Cities and other cities like St. Cloud, Bemidji, Brainerd, International Falls, as well as other places, according to this KDHL story. In fact, at its peak in 2017, there were 15 Tim Hortons coffee shops in the Bold North, with more rumored to be on the way.

However, that abruptly changed starting in May of 2019. That's when BringMeTheNews says Tim Hortons locations in the Twin Cities began closing abruptly. Other locations in cities throughout Minnesota would follow suit, and by later that year, the chain was essentially extinct here in the Gopher State.

Why the Coffee Chain Left Minnesota for Good

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What happened? Well, according to the Star Tribune, several locations in Minnesota were sued by their parent company for not paying franchise fee payments. Then the group that owned the Minnesota franchises turned around and sued Tim Hortons for price gouging.

While the result of those lawsuits isn't known, we do know there aren't any Tim Hortons operating in Minnesota these days, making the well-known extinct in these parts. The closest Tim Hortons to Minnesota appears to be in Michigan, with other locations in Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia.

And speaking of things that were once popular but are now gone, keep scrolling to see how many of these breakfast cereals from the 80s and 90s that once graced store shelves across Minnesota you remember!

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