A Mary Brown’s franchise could open in Yellowknife as early as January 2016.
That’s according to an executive with the company, who confirmed plans to open a restaurant on a piece of land owned by Westown Tire on Old Airport Road.
Peter Rakovalis, vice president of franchise development with Mary Brown’s, told us the company has been in talks with Yellowknife resident Perry Campbell for more than a year now to bring the franchise back to the city.
Mary Brown’s last served its famous chicken and taters in Yellowknife back in 2002.
Read: Hail Mary: Franchise Given Green Light To Fill YK Chicken Void
Rakovalis says Campbell and executives with the fast-food chain wanted to secure the best possible location for the new restaurant.
“Our delays were with respect to location,” he told Moose FM. “We had certain requirements that we wanted to meet so that we’d be able to service the residents of Yellowknife properly.”
Among those requirements, he says, was securing a location that could offer a drive-thru option.
“Apparently it gets cold in Yellowknife so we wanted to ensure that we had a good opportunity for our customers to visit us without having to get out of their car.”
According to Rakovalis, Campbell has already received a development permit and is currently working through lease and design details with Ken Pich, owner of Westown Tire.
All going well, the restaurant could open by early 2016.
“It’s so dependent on how long everything takes but we’d like to be open for January or February of 2016,” said Rakovalis.
“The market is exactly our particular customer and Perry (Campbell) is a high energy, wonderful man whose family is going to be very involved.
“He’s also well entrenched in the Yellowknife community so we’re very confident that it will be a successful business.”
Mary Brown’s appears to be swooping in at the right time. On August 23, the city’s KFC franchise closed its doors for good after being in operation for 47 years.
