Dairy Queen says it will open a new, quick service restaurant in North Bay next year under the "Grill & Chill" branding. The company already has two outlets here...one on Lakeshore Drive and another in Northgate Shopping Centre.
Now it intends to build a new 2,600 sq. ft. stand-alone outlet on "restaurants row" next to Canadian Tire on McKeown St. seating 72. It will also have a drive-through and a 500 sq. ft. outdoor patio.
The Grill & Chill brand offers items like burgers, fries and chicken strips on its menu but still has the frozen treats that DQ is known for.
"Small town local ownership is very important to us and we thought there was an opportunity in North Bay to introduce our fans to Grill and Chill," Director of Franchise Development Tony Watters told BayToday.
And he's not deterred by the revolving door of restaurants in that area.
"In the franchising world nothing is a given but Dairy Queen has really flourished in small towns right across Canada so we're positive fans in North Bay will be receptive to Dairy Queen Grill and Chill coming to town. If you drive up and down that area there is certainly a lot of competition but it's also a traffic and retail hub so people are going there to work and to shop."
Watters says the company has an interested local franchisee and is now in the process of getting the proper approvals.
The new DQ will start off employing between 30 and 50 people...25 which will be fulltime and Watters estimates that with construction and restaurant costs, the investment in North Bay "will be north of a million dollars."
Dairy Queen is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and licenses and services a system of more than 6,700 locations in the United States, Canada and more than 25 other countries.
Dairy Queen's food business has grown 30 per cent in the past three years.
