A mighty competitor is stepping into the already crowded ring to battle for Lac La Biche’s restaurant business.
Construction started last week on the Boston Pizza that will be setting up shop in the BCMI parking lot just west of town. BCMI director Bob Campbell said depending on construction time, it could be open anytime from Christmas to March.
“We think the community needs it,” Campbell said. “It’s the number one franchise in the country that’s Canadian based, so we thought it was a perfect franchise for Lac La Biche.”
“It’s good for the community to have another restaurant that has variety and a comfortable place to bring your family,” Campbell said. “A place to sit down and watch a hockey game or a football game in a pleasant lounge.
Boston Pizza has over 340 restaurants in Canada, the United States, and Mexico and their corporate website lists 2010 gross sales at $853 million. The popular franchise sells a lot of the same food as local restaurants – burgers, pastas, salads, and of course, pizza – and will have a sports lounge.
That puts BP’s in direct competition with established eateries and pubs like Tom’s Pizza and Steakhouse, Rocky’s Pizza, Taras Pizza, Bill’s Burger Baron, Salt’s Seafood and Steak, Penelope’s Grill, LaBone’s Sports Pub, and Truckers Saloon.
“I’m ready to do battle,” said Brian Laboucane, owner of Rocky’s Pizza and LaBone’s Sports Pub.
He said he doesn’t like the idea of a big franchise coming into town and squeezing the business away from locals.
“Our market is too small for them,” Laboucane said. “I think there are enough pizza places in town. There are five, now with Boston Pizza that’s six. How much pizza can you sell?”
Heather McIntyre and Tom Alexopoulos own Tom’s Pizza and Steakhouse. McIntyre ran restaurants in Fort McMurray when it was still small and watched as franchises rolled in as the town boomed. Now Fort McMurray has a glut of big box eateries, including Boston Pizza, The Keg, Earl’s, Montana’s, and Moxie’s.
McIntyre said that smaller restaurants have to bring it with great food, service, and value or they’ll end up crushed by the multi-million dollar corporate budgets of the franchises.
“A lot of people like Boston Pizza,” McIntyre said. “We’ll have to step it up a bit.”
Although she anticipates taking a hit, McIntyre is confident that they can keep the strong customer base they’ve established at Tom’s.
“Business has been great,” she said. “The community has supported us tremendously.”
This isn’t the first time a branded store rolled into town – Subway, KFC, and A&W have been in Lac La Biche for years. Bill’s Burger Baron manager Adel Abougoush said that at his family’s last restaurant Flintstone’s, burger sales dropped dramatically when A&W moved in.
“After six months or so, the business came back,” Abougoush said. “A new business in town is like a fad, everyone has to at least go check it out.”
Like most of the other restaurant owners, Abougoush is anticipating some competition – but he doesn’t necessarily see it as a bad thing.
“You can’t stop economic growth,” he said. “As the town grows, business grows and Boston Pizza is a sign the town is growing. Lac La Biche is going to be experiencing some growing pains in the coming years and a lot of people aren’t going to like it.”
However, he said he doesn’t want to see growth come at the expense of the established businesses in the community. He’s happy to lend the shop next door a case of Coke if they run out during a rush, and said that others shops would gladly do the same for him – they support each other and the community supports them.
Taras Pizza is the shop next door, and has been in town for 13 years. Owner Ziad Tarabien recently invested $380,000 in renovations to his main street shop. He said he renovated because he anticipated the growth and he wants to be ready to compete.
“It is a sign of growth,” Tarabien said. “It’s coming. Before you know it Tim Hortons is going to be here, all those big franchises will be here. We’re in the same market as everybody else.”
Tarabien said that competition is always good because it keeps a business on the right track. He said that a smaller restaurant has advantages over a chain because they have the ability to change prices and menus, set specials, and basically be the nimble David to the lumbering Goliath.
“Everybody is going to be affected in the first few days, but we’re just going to have to roll up our sleeves and give the customers more,” he said. “I think we’ll be OK. Main Street will always be Main Street.”
So restaurant owners are bracing for a hit, but are ready to do battle by keeping their food and prices competitive in spite of the new franchise in town.
“I can’t say I’m going to welcome Boston Pizza with open arms,” Tarabien said. “We’re going to do our best to keep our arms open for our customers.”
