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New York City tourist Raeann Boynton stares at the Tims Hortons restaurant menu on 53rd Street and says she’s not impressed.

“If I have the option to go to Starbucks or Tim Hortons, I’m going to Starbucks,” said the 17-year-old student from New Orleans who ordered an ice capuccino at Tim Hortons during a recent holiday in New York. Starbucks has “much more variety, and it’s more convenient since there are so many of them.”

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Tim Hortons’ failure to catch on with consumers like Boynton in the U.S., where the coffee and doughnut chain’s Canadian charm means little in a crowded fast-food market, is causing growing unrest among its shareholders.

Activist investors say the $664 million U.S. expansion over the last decade has been a waste. At stake may be a forced retreat from a market that promises the Oakville, Ontario-based company potential growth as it reaches saturation at home.

“They are meeting the point at which they won’t be able to open any more stores in Canada,” said Jim Danahy, chief executive officer of Customer LAB, a Toronto-based retail consulting firm, in an interview. “They know long-term growth will have to come from the US.”