SAGINAW, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal
As Canadian coffee shop chain Tim Hortons pushes into the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the first location for Tarrant County is being planned in Saginaw.
Executives at the company developing the retail space, Blazing Hospitality Inc., said earlier this month that Tim Hortons was one of the tenants in its new retail hub under construction at 1005 N. Saginaw Blvd.
Blazing Hospitality is developing the 8,000-plus-square-foot building on a nearly 1-acre site, where previously a run-down metal building stood, in the city north of Fort Worth.
Tim Hortons will occupy about 2,000 square feet and will have a drive-thru, Blazing Hospitality President Smit Shah said.
Canada-based Tim Hortons has a huge footprint in its home country, where it's known for coffee, donuts and breakfast and lunch food. But it also has locations scattered across the United States, including in the Houston area.
Now the chain is looking to expand in Texas. In DFW, there's a location planned at 440 North State Highway 121 in Coppell, Dallas Business Journal previously reported. That could open in the third quarter. Another location is in the works in Denton, WFAA reported.
Ryan Ferranti, head of business development at Tim Hortons U.S., said the company restarted expansion efforts in the country in 2022. The company hopes to have 50-60 locations across Texas' major metros including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin in the next five to seven years.
The company looks at factors including morning traffic demographics to determine site selection. Texans as a whole consumers a lot of quick service restaurant food, he said. People familiar with the Tim Hortons brand from the Northeast and Midwest are also moving into Southern states such as Texas, Florida and Georgia. He sees a large amount of Canadians visiting the Lone Star state, too.
"We're not trying to build our business just on Canadians," Ferranti said. "We think we have a great product and a great offering for the entire market. But when you're coming into a new market, having these brand evangelists and Canadians that are in the area to help us spread the word, I think is instrumental getting off to a strong start."
The Saginaw franchisees are Ali Lakhany and Emad Lakhany, the brothers who are spearheading the other North Texas locations of Tim Hortons and who oversee the Houston locations through TH of Texas LLC.
The Lakhanys did not respond to requests for comment.
Shah said the franchisees were looking for a smaller market with less competition — and found that in Saginaw, which had an estimated 2022 population of about 25,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
"Nobody else is there," he said.
Firehouse Subs and Liquorland have also signed on as tenants in Blazing Hospitality's development. About 1,250 square feet remain available for a fourth tenant. Vision Commercial is handling leasing.
Construction should be completed by the end of the year, Shah said.
The City of Saginaw approved a grant of up to $25,000 for the developer via a Chapter 380 incentives agreement, to help fund demolition of the long-vacant building, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office local incentives database.
An affiliated company, SP WA Development LLC, purchased the property at 1005 N. Saginaw Blvd. on May 17 using a nearly $2.6 million loan, according to Tarrant County property records.
Blazing Hospitality is a Fort Worth-based real estate developer and has a $150 million portfolio that encompasses quick-service restaurants and retail. It also has a residential division and is building high-end homes next to Citigroup Inc.'s Las Colinas office campus.
Kendall Graff with Woodmont represented Firehouse Subs and Tim Hortons was represented by Max Keffer and Alden Harris of SHOP Companies during lease negotiations.
