Tim Hortons wants to upgrade design

Tim Hortons plans to renovate most of its Canadian restaurants over the next several years in what some franchisees say is another “ill-conceived” move that will cost individual restaurant owners about $450,000.

The coffee-and-doughnut chain and its restaurant owners will invest $700 million to gussy up almost all its Canadian locations over the next four years, the brand said. It declined to answer questions about what portion of the total will come from the chain versus franchisees.

The new restaurants will have lighter, more natural looking exteriors, and feature upgraded, open-concept seating, the Restaurant Brands International-owned chain said in a statement.

The decision has generated more animosity between the chain and an unsanctioned franchisee group, the Great White North Franchisee Association.