The elusive Prince Rupert A&W

So we have not really had an update from anyone on what exactly is going on with the proposed A&W franchise that was supposed to be built in this city…The Northern View first announced the news in Mar 2012, but since then we have not seen any shovels in the ground and all progress seemed to be stalled by traffic issues associated with the Drive-thru…at this point it seems like this is something we are never going to see come to fruition.

So I decided to call A&W Franchising myself and ask whether the franchise rights were still available here or not…I spoke to the person responsible for recruitment of franchises and he told me that PR is not available because there is already a franchise sold in this area…I then said there is no A&W here, so how can that be…and he then put me on hold and double checked…he came back and said this franchise has been in site selection for over a year and that the location has been chosen and will be 2nd Avenue West and McBride Street, with construction starting soon and opening late 2014 or early 2015. He also said it will be a full-service type of restaurant (I was quite surprised he gave away so much information to me to be honest).

Hmmm…McBride & 2nd Avenue West…I am thinking the Old Dairy Queen building and or empty lot next to it…whatelse could constitute as 2nd Ave & McBride?

Regardless…the A&W dream still seems to be alive in Prince Rupert for the time being, haha.

Nice! Never thought to phone and ask! Good call! I kinda hope it will be a fixing up of the old DQ location, would be better than building a new place and that place still looking drab. Guess we will see!

I disagree. It would be different if it was a Heritage building. But it is a run down old building. A &W is not going to build where they can’t have a drive-thru. I can see it torn down and rebuilt. I’m sure I saw in the paper that the old DQ site had been sold, but I can’t remember for sure. I would like to see some new business construction.

It would be the vacant lot on the Southwest corner of 2nd and McBride, where the Ford Dealership once stood. To be the old Dairy Queen, the op would have been told 3rd Avenue West and McBride. “Construction” was the operative word.

If it is the empty lot, then I am surprised since a drive thru would empty pretty close to the busiest intersection in town and there seemed to be a issues with the Rupert square location due to traffic congestion.

that location is not big enough for a drive thru and full restaurant, unless they also bought the empty lot behind it, if you want to see the size of lot you need just look at McDonald’s.

You do not need a size like mcdonalds…that is one of the biggest fast good lots I have seen in this province. Look at PG or even the AW in terrace, it is not even a 5 th of the size of our mcdonalds lot.

The property that sold

download/file.php?mode=view&id=8534

Is a very large parcel of land.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=8535

[quote=“katray”]The property that sold

download/file.php?mode=view&id=8534

Is a very large parcel of land.

download/file.php?mode=view&id=8535[/quote]

Wow that is a huge piece of property…so the empty lot across from Northern Savings ALSO sold…as well as the entire empty lot across from Safeway parking lot down to corner of 2nd Ave and McBride.

I remember seeing those lots listed a few years ago close to 2 million total…pretty expensive.

franchisee Qualifications

A&W treats the process of awarding a franchise agreement with great care.
Our stringent qualifications for a multi-site agreement include:

Sound business acumen and professional background
Successful track record
Proven relationship-building and people-management skills
$2 million net worth
$800,000 in unencumbered cash or liquid assets

Our minimum qualifications for an individual-unit opportunity include:

$600,000 net worth
$350,000 in unencumbered cash or liquid assets

INVESTMENT INFORMATION
Freestanding Restaurants

The typical investment ranges from $900,000 to $1.3 M per restaurant. The franchisee must provide unencumbered cash equity of no less than 35% of the total investment.
Urban Restaurants

The investment ranges from $700,000 to $900,000.

Fees
A&W offers a very competitive fee structure:

Service Fee: 2.5% of net sales
Advertising Fund Contribution: 2.5% of net sales
Initial Franchise Fee: $55,000 for a 20 year agreement

Looks like construction for this may have finally started as the lot next to the old Dairy Queen building has been fenced off and is beginning to be bulldozed and torn up…guess we will see if this activity is related to this or not because that lot is the only thing I could consider as being “2nd Ave West & McBride” street as that rep from A&W said.

Here’s some history… there’s always been an A&W in Rupert, well the last thirty years or so. Its the Mountainview Trailer Court across from the SPCA! When I moved to town and got dropped off in a cab out there, the cab drivers, the dispatcher even, called the place the A&W. So, I’m thinking, once upon a time somebody had a franchise out there. Anybody remember?

The earliest I remember is about '76 - '78. A&W was already closed but the building (tastee-freeze style drive-in) was still there.

In the early 70’s I remember as a kid going to A&W near the current SPCA. It was located infront of the mountainview trailer court. At one time there were approx. 40 homes in the park. As a kid we would run down the bank from Kanata school and go to the drive-in on our lunch break. Thank God we never got caught by Mr Weibe.
In the yellowhead industrial park in approx. 1973 Tasti-freeze opened a drive in as well. It is the current building Marcarthy uses as a office. It closed approx. 1982

Seems like all activity that was going on at this site has stopped completely.

Who knows what is going on there.

[quote=“bthedog”]Seems like all activity that was going on at this site has stopped completely.

Who knows what is going on there.[/quote]

I’m only guessing but it looks to me like they’ve removed an old underground storage tank. Probably part of the early stages of site prep.

This town is a joke to think that property values are worth what they are right now and people from other cities clime Vancouver snapping up properties cause they still seem cheap . Of course some of this falls on certain real estate agents who are pushy , liars and sneaks and yes thee reputation will be exposed on here sooner then later !!!

Yeah A and W is still alive along withal these other bullshit pipe dreams !!! They should call Rupert , pipe dream city!!!

Ditto

Anyone who would buy a house at the prices today has more money than brains …disgusting and hard to believe what they are selling for now

[quote=“jamesbrown”]
Ditto

Anyone who would buy a house at the prices today has more money than brains …disgusting and hard to believe what they are selling for now[/quote]

So what would you suggest anyone that wishes to buy a home do? Rent one for $1500+ per month for life? The market is still controlled by the buyer. They only sell for what others will pay for them.