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A&;W grants first multi-site development agreement in Ontario

  //business-finance.news-articles.net/content/200 .. multi-site-development-agreement-in-ontario.html
  Published in Business and Finance on Friday, September 4th 2009 at 9:40 GMT by Market Wire
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 A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (TSX:AW.UN) VANCOUVER, Sept. 4 /CNW/ - A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is pleased to announce it has awarded the company's first ever multi-site new restaurant development agreement in Ontario. The agreement was awarded to existing franchisees Upinder Dhanoa and Sandy Gill and calls for the development 12 new A&W restaurants in the Hamilton, Burlington and Milton region to occur over the next 5 years. Late last year, the company announced its intentions to accelerate new restaurant growth by adopting a multi-site approach to all future franchise development in Ontario. The Hamilton/Burlington/Milton agreement represents a landmark in the company's 50 year history as a franchisor and according to Graham Cooke, A&W's Vice President of New Restaurant Expansion, is the first of many to come. "We are just delighted to have franchisees of the calibre of Upinder, Sandy and their family, spearhead this new approach to growing the A&W brand much more rapidly in Ontario. They have already proven their excellence as A&W operators and have the operational, financial and organizational capability to expand at an accelerated pace." Cooke went on to say that the company is about to finalize several more multi-site agreements in other parts of Ontario. Typically, each agreement will call for a commitment to build and operate 4-6 restaurants over a fixed period of time within a pre-designated geographical area. So far, all of the activity has been confined to existing franchisees. "We're especially pleased that so many of our existing Ontario franchisees have stepped up to take advantage of the multi-site opportunity. Within the next few weeks, we'll be offering the opportunity for the first time to the marketplace." Cooke said that although marketing is just getting underway, the company has already received significant outside interest in its multi-site development program. The company also plans to launch the multi-site concept in Quebec later this year. A&W is Canada's second largest hamburger chain. Operating coast- to- coast, A&W restaurants feature famous trade-marked menu items such as The Burger Family(R), Chubby Chicken(R) and A&W Root Beer(R).

For further information: J. Graham Cooke, VP, New Restaurant Expansion, A&W Food Services of Canada Inc., (604) 988-2141, Website: awfranchise.com