The barbarians are at the gate. They are young, well-dressed and well-spoken, and they do not fit the barbarian stereotype.

As for the gate, it is a storefront on Roncesvalles Ave., at the corner of Fern; it has been empty for a couple of years, ever since Granowska’s closed.

Granowska’s was an old-school Polish bakery; where once it stood, now there will stand a Tim Hortons.

A Tim’s? Here?

Gasp!

Ashima and Gaurav Vij are the franchise owners. They, along with several Tim’s executives, met with my neighbours recently because there has been grumbling in the neighbourhood.

It is the sort of grumbling which makes us uncomfortable for different reasons. To put the kindest face on it, we like our old-school mom-and-pop stores, and we like our hip and independent shops.

We may quietly tolerate a discreet Starbucks and a Timothy’s, just as we pretend to turn our noses up at the Mickey D’s down the street. But we prefer — well, some of us prefer — the funky independents.

Me? I have an espresso pot at home and I rarely get the time to go for coffee. But if I stand back a bit and look around, it seems to me that a storefront that was empty for two years, unable to attract a mom and pop or anyone else, is a blight on the neighbourhood.

Here’s how the meeting went.

The Tim’s execs talked about community involvement, local jobs, their carbon footprint and their iconic brand.

Their iconic brand? I don’t care how you deep-fry it, Timbits are not Polish paczki, but you know what they mean.

Ashima and Gaurav own two other Tim’s franchises in Toronto; this one will provide maybe 10 full-time and another 16 part-time jobs. Hours will be 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. It will have 18 seats. It will open just before Christmas.

That was the news.

And then the meeting was thrown open to questions. As you know, in meetings such as this, the questions tend to come in the form of comments, sometimes scathing and judgmental:

A woman who lives on Fern Ave., right across from the franchise, was pretty lathered up. She said she didn’t know how a Tim’s fit into the neighbourhood. She meant that she didn’t think it did fit in at all.

She said, with some indignation, “You come in, smack dab in the middle of two other bakeries that sell coffee and baked goods.”

That, alas, is capitalism.

She also said, “I’ll be looking at a Tim Hortons sign for the rest of my life.” And you would surely share her concern if you lived there.

She said, “You undermine the mom and pops; some didn’t make it through; we came out the other side. And now you show up.”

She was referring, of course, to the recent Roncesvalles street renewal that went on, seemingly forever, resulting in a steep loss of income for some store owners, and driving others out of business.

Someone else said, “I live on Fern, farther down. I’ve lived here over 25 years. It’s Roncesvalles Village.” She really wanted Ashima and Gaurav, and the Tim’s execs, to know that our neighbourhood is a “village.”

A Tim’s exec replied by saying that they had locations in a lot of villages across the country. I think he may have misunderstood.

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The village woman said, of the intruding franchise set amid the mom-and-pops, “It’s not like someone getting up and baking. This is a village, we support them, they support us.”

In truth, someone at the Tim’s really will be getting up and baking, even if they’re baking trucked-in frozen product. However, there is no denying that a bakery next door, which existed happily next to Granowska’s, is for sale, and there are rumours that a couple of coffee shops are now on shaky ground.

Someone said, “We didn’t find out until it was a done deal; if you’re going to move in, the community should have had a vote.”

That is not capitalism.

That is not even socialism.

She continued, “You don’t understand the neighbourhood. You disrespect us.”

In reply, someone took gentle umbrage by citing some of the other franchises on the street. “Snap Fitness, David’s Tea — I didn’t hear any outrage. Is there a cultural judgment here?” Not a judgment of culture, but one of social class.

But then a Tim’s exec — he lives in the neighbourhood — piped up and said that he liked to get his coffee at the Cherry Bomb, a funky independent joint at the south end of the street; he said he just happened to get his paycheque from Tim Hortons.

Somebody said, “Maybe not for long.”

Laughter ensued.

And there was hot talk about increased traffic, and parking problems, and the bright blight of that sign. And thus the meeting ended, not exactly happily.

The thing about the village?

We survive.

Joe Fiorito appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. jfiorito@thestar.ca

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