(Food-Beverage-News.Com, April 01, 2013 ) Calgary, Canada -- Within less than a year of the opening of the first Canadian restaurant in Calgary, the United State's Smash Burger chain has large plans for a continued expansion within the northern market.
Chairman and Chief Executive of Smashburger, David Prokupek, stated that Calgary is a corporate market for the Denver-based company, and not a franchise one.
“We’re looking to build in the greater Calgary market probably a 10 to 15 store kind of plan over the next three to four years,” he said. He continued, stating, “I think it’s going to be a really good market. Our first two stores are killing it.”
The company first opened its fledgling shop in Calgary in May of 2012 in the northeast of Sunridge and followed up with another store in June of 2012 in Royal Oak.
Prokupek stated that Calgary will be a mini-headquarters in a way for Canada, providing a franchise support system of operations for Alberta. A series of new franchisees have been signed up for the Edmonton area.
“We’ll be expanding corporately in Calgary and adding some franchise stores into Edmonton and other parts of Alberta,” he said.
In Canada, the company is now likely to add another six to eight restaurants within the year, and over the course of the next three years it could have up to 30 or 50 across the whole of Canada. The Calgary locations are the only ones that are currently operating within Canada.
“We’ll be five to eight stores in the Calgary/Edmonton area by the end of the year,” said Prokupek, adding two more locations could be added to the Calgary market by the end of this year.
“The economy is really healthy (in Calgary). Obviously with the oil and gas and just all the services. One of the reasons we picked Calgary is we saw it as very similar to Denver. Rocky Mountain spirit. The energy. Employment ... And there really isn’t anything that much like Smashburger there. Obviously there’s other burger places but people have really taken to it.”
