CLINTON — The town has lost its Tim Hortons coffeehouse and bakery, marking the latest shop from the popular Canadian chain shuttered at a Maine location.

The Clinton Tim Hortons, at 165 Hinckley Road, had a sign on its door saying it would close effective on Thursday.

Employees at the shop said in interviews earlier this week they were notified of the store’s closure last Saturday, which gave them very little time to plan their next steps.

“We had no idea about what was going on,” said Cassandra Maloon, an employee who has been with the store for about six months.

The manager of the Clinton Tim Hortons could not be reached for comment this week. The Ontario corporate office of Tim Hortons also did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The shop closure in Clinton will leave six Tim Hortons locations in Maine — in Bangor, Brewer, Caribou, Houlton, Presque Isle and Madawaska. There are more than 600 Tim Hortons across the U.S., with the most locations in New York, Michigan and Ohio.

The store opened its Clinton outlet in 2016 and had 10 employees.

“We are all like a family here,” Maloon said. “I’m really going to miss that.”

Employees said the low wage rate of $14 an hour made it difficult for them to pay their bills and live comfortably.

“The pay rate is lower than other local coffee shops in town,” said Katelynn Folsom, 26.

Previously, Tim Hortons in Waterville closed abruptly on New Year’s Eve in 2017. The establishment also closed operations in Skowhegan and  six other outlets in 2013.

Tim Hortons was started by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2014, Burger King signed a deal of $11.4 billion to merge with the establishment. The two chains are now subsidiaries of Restaurant Brands International, a Toronto-based company.

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