Dairy Queen to test the investment climate in Prince Rupert

Another sign that perhaps the turn around of the local economy is finally picking up speed is the growing interest from national chains in looking for investors for Prince Rupert opportunities.

The latest on that theme is the recent interest shown by the Dairy Queen restaurant chain which is seeking inquiries from those who may be interested in owning and operating a Prince Rupert location of their DQ Grill and Chill franchise for the national chain.

The DQ brand is not unfamiliar to the North Coast, with the restaurant chain once located at the corner of McBride and 3rd Avenue West, the last tenant as it turned out for that building which has sat empty ever since the chain shut down its operations in the city in the nineties.

The company would seem to be dipping their toe back into the market having recently placed an advertisement in the weekly newspaper, this week a quarter page ad that provided some photos of current DQ locations and a contact number for those interested in the opportunity for a Prince Rupert start up.

So for those looking to explore the prospects a little more here's some background.

According to their website, here's what you should bring to the table to move forward with your interest.  Liquid Capital of 400,000 dollars, with a Net Worth Requirement of 750,000 dollars. Those requirement comes in addition to your Franchise Fee of 35,000 dollars., Royalty Fees of 4 per cent, and marketing fees listed as between 5 to 6 per cent.

Expectations for any location include a Lot size of between 20,952 and 19,670 square feet.  The Building size is listed as requiring between 1,886 and 2,712 square feet.

You can review more on the DQ experience from their website franchise page here.

Those seeking more franchise information can contact Fiona Bottoms at fiona.bottoms.@idq.com or by telephone at 705-794-1508.

DQ is not the first of the national chains to show renewed interest in Prince Rupert.

As we outlined on the blog last year, Boston Pizza was looking for investors for a North Coast location, however there hasn't been much heard on that theme since the initial request for applicants.

For more items on commercial developments on the North Coast see our archive page here.