[nfbmi-talk] tim hortons deal doa?

[joe harcz Comcast]

Tim Skubick: Canadian-based Tim Horton's in the Michigan Capitol? It's apparently dead on arrival

Biggby Grand River Flagship East Lansing.JPG

The flagship Biggby location at 270 W. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing. (MLive.com)

Tim Skubick | Politics Columnist for MLive.com

By

Tim Skubick | Politics Columnist for MLive.com

 

on September 23, 2013 at 6:38 AM, updated September 23, 2013 at 6:41 AM

Biggby: One. Tim Horton: Zippo.

 

The battle was moving in Tom Horton’s direction when word leaked that it might ink a deal with the state to hawk its food in a new eatery on the ground

floor of the state capitol and in a near-by state office building.

 

But once Biggby, a Michigan-based coffee franchiser, got wind of it, the Canadian-based Tim Horton advantage started to dissipate like the morning dew at

sunrise.

 

It’s now officially dead, even though nobody in the Snyder administration has said anything about what feels like a botched deal from the get-go.

 

“As long as I am here, this will not happen,” discloses an insider who had knowledge of what unfolded behind the scenes and it wasn't pretty as finger-pointing

ruled the day.

 

Somebody who will talk is the state capitol building manager who was “recently called in” and told, the Horton deal is off the table.

 

>From the outside looking in, it appears some miscues surrounded the original idea which may have had some merit. The Horton chain would sell its products

in a renovated mini-restaurant on the ground floor of the capitol. The Horton sign was not going to be used there, but it might have been used in the House

Office building where the eatery has been closed for more than a year.

 

Problem was not everyone was in on the bidding process.

 

Problem was everything was kept out of the public eye and when the media started nosing around, a mammoth cone of silence was imposed on the talks.

 

Tell the media it can’t get any information, and it often goes into overdrive to get the information.

 

“The discussions continue and no decision has been made,” was the only public comment from one of the state officials involved in the talks - and that was

only given after he was spotted on the street going into a closed door meeting.

 

Memo to public officials: Secrecy may feel good, but lots of times it leads to bad outcomes.

 

In this case food for the thousands of school kids, staffers, lawmakers and tourists who get hungry in the capitol complex, will have to find someplace

else to fill their tummies until the administration comes up with another idea.

 

Watch "Off the Record with Tim Skubick" online anytime at

video.wkar.org