Through a joint venture with a franchise group, the corporation said that it planned to open 32 shops in eastern Canada over a six-year period. Here too, Krispy Kreme was venturing into territory dominated by a major doughnut player, namely Tim Hortons, a ubiquitous Canadian chain owned by Wendy's International, Inc. (Fittingly, Tim Hortons was simultaneously expanding into the U.S. market.) In June 2002 the company announced that it had entered into a joint venture to open 30 Krispy Kreme stores over a five-year period in Australia and New Zealand.