[Komskies]

Interesting article from the current issue of Canadian Business:

Fast Food: Invasion of the burger joints

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/arti...-burger-joints

American chain restaurants are eyeing Canada’s stable economy, growing sales and relatively similar consumers, and scurrying over the border to cash in on what they see as an underdeveloped market. According to research firm NPD Group, the U.S. food service industry has seen its restaurant traffic decline over the past decade, making the 2% boost Canada saw over that same period look downright delicious. Thanks to those dismal American numbers, many U.S.-based brands have been aggressively expanding into the land of double-doubles and poutine, including Denver, Colo.–based chains Chipotle Mexican Grill and Smashburger; Minneapolis, Minn.–based Buffalo Wild Wings; Arizona’s P.F. Chang’s; and Carl’s Jr. from California.
Washington, D.C.–based Five Guys, for one tasty example, first expanded its insanely popular burger and fries franchise to Alberta in 2010. It now boasts 40 locations in six provinces, with more on the way.

As the fast casual competition heats up, the race to find what’s next is on. Darren Tristiano, executive vice-president of research firm Technomic, says that based on strong regional data in the U.S., the next big chains to hit Canada will be high-quality sandwich shops, like Florida-based Firehouse Subs, and Italian concepts like Los Angeles-based 800 Degrees pizza and Piada, which hails from Columbus, Ohio. Extreme Brandz’s Rechichi hopes to get a jump on the trend with a new Italian fast casual concept called Via Cibo. It was two years in the making, and debuts next March in Toronto.