Our History in Canada
Introducing Fast Food to Canada
 A&W was Canada’s first hamburger
quick service restaurant and remains one of its best known. The company began
operations in Winnipeg, opening its first freestanding drive-in restaurant in
June, 1956. By 1966, A&W Food Services had opened over 200 drive-in restaurants and was
a hit with baby boomers and their families.
In 1972, A&W Food Services was acquired by Unilever Canada Limited.
Since that time, A&W has been owned and operated in Canada independently from
A&W operations in the United States.
The Leader in the Shopping Centre Segment
During the 1980s, A&W Food Services became the first hamburger
quick service restaurant chain to open restaurants in shopping centres. Today, it
is the dominant operator in this segment with approximately 220 restaurants.
A&W’s shopping centre strategy helped the chain grow and prosper,
and by 1989, it had become the second largest hamburger quick service
restaurant chain in Canada, measured by number of restaurants.
Strategic Focus on Franchising
The 1990s brought continued growth and change to A&W as the company
aggressively expanded its freestanding restaurants in Western Canada. In 1995,
the company’s then current senior management team with other investors acquired A&W
Food Services in a management buy-out. At that time, A&W Food Services owned
and operated 162 hamburger quick service restaurants and franchised a further 308
restaurants.
In 1996, a strategic decision was made to focus on franchising the
business. Over an 18 month period, 129 corporately-owned restaurants were sold
and franchised and 26 restaurants were closed.
#1 Choice of the Baby Boomers
In 1999, A&W Food Services embarked on a strategy to
position itself as "the #1 choice of the baby boomer generation". The major thrusts of that strategy included the return of The Burger Family and Chubby Chicken, changes to design of A&W restaurants and brand elements used to identify A&W locations and products, new restaurant development and new advertising, together with ongoing menu innovation focusing on appealing to baby boomers.
Launch of the A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund
In February, 2002 the A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund was created.
Strategy Review
A&W is committed to ongoing strategic renewal of its business. This involves reevaluating the longer term strategy for the business every three to five years.
In 2008, Food Services once again undertook an extensive review of its existing strategy and developed a revised strategy.
The revised strategy builds on Food Services' mission established in 2005 which focuses on the baby boomer customer.
The revised mission states "together we will make A&W the number one national burger choice for baby boomers and the fastest growing and most successful burger businesses in Canada."
The revised strategy includes five major strategic thrusts which are planned to be implemented over the coming years:
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Extending and strengthening A&W's skills in strategy and CLIMATE; |
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Rapid new restaurant expansion nationally; |
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Winning more baby boomer customers; |
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Most successful restaurants; and |
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Keeping the A&W brand current. |
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A&W Today
Today, with over 700 restaurants from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, A&W is one of
Canada’s leading franchisors.
A&W is also one of the nation’s fastest growing quick-service restaurant companies,
experiencing 90 per cent growth in the past decade.
With national system sales of $757 million in 2009, the restaurant chain serves
more than 90 million customers a year and employs approximately 22,000 employees.
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