Soon after Horton opened the store, he met Ron Joyce, a former Hamilton police constable. In 1965, Joyce took over the Tim Horton Donut Shop on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton. By 1967, after he had opened up two more stores, he and Tim Horton became full partners in the business. After Horton's death in 1974, Joyce bought the company from the Horton family and took over as the only owner of the now forty stores. Joyce expanded the chain quickly in geography and in product selection, opening the 500th store in Aylmer, Quebec, in 1991.