January 3, 2011 ( Retailer news )

This article, written by David Ebner was published in Globe & Mail in January 03, 2011. 

A&W, long-time purveyor of draft root beer in frosted mugs and the quaint “burger family,” is challenging industry leader McDonald’s Corp. for the growing downtown market.

Aiming to reignite a decades-old brand name, A&W is rapidly expanding in dense urban centres, opening a quartet of outlets on its home turf of Vancouver, plus locations in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. The restaurants have modernized the chain’s signature orange decor, playing Arcade Fire on the sound system and offering free wi-fi along with the traditional burgers and onion rings.

Until now, McDonald’s has been the leader among fast-food burger outlets with its significant downtown presence in the corporate and condo-tower market. But now the country’s No. 2 burger chain aims to build on recent growth – A&W sales have doubled in the past decade – with its own urban push.

“Canadians are going to see a significant shift in the next two decades, in terms of the way they work,” said Paul Hollands, A&W chief executive officer and three-decade veteran of the North Vancouver company. “There’ll be a much greater proportion of people living and working in urban cores.” Click here to read the full article from Globe and Mail…