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We are sorry to see the Tim Horton’s go from the Richmond Center plaza. (Bali Village and Hope Valley House of Pizza are next to close – by spring we are told).
Tim Horton’s was our lifeline to the community in a way. It was our regular place for a coffee or tea break. We knew the counter ladies’ faces and they knew ours. They knew our favorite orders – $2.59 for a medium tea and a multi-grain bagel.
The store felt familiar and comfortable. We even used the shop as a surrogate office on occaission so as not to disturb our fellow workers.
What happened to these friendly employees? What will we do now when we need a caffeine fix or a pick me up? Where will the coffee club we used to see meet instead?
The Tim Horton’s on the other side of I-95 doesn’t seem quite as intimate. The Cumberland Farms is a possibility for us but there’s no seating for a surrogate office.
We will be sorry to see all the stores in Richmond Center go. Who needs a bigger and better CVS with Rite-Aid, Stop & Shop Pharmacy, and a proposed Walgreens all nearby? (We presume CVS knows the market and what they are doing).
Private businesses are the casualties of corporate expansion but more importantly we lose some of the small town connections that make this area so neighborly and frankly so great. We regularly see people saying hello to their neighbors at the Cumberland Farms next door. Some of those connections will no doubt get lost with the CVS expansion.
A fond farewell to all the Tim Horton’s employees. Perhaps we’ll look for you at the other store. But it won’t be the same and we can’t walk there.
We are not only losing Tim Horton’s, we are losing community connections in the process.
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