Mary Brown’s Chicken, a Canadian based fast-food chain, is celebrating its 250th store opening, looking to expand to have 500 locations in Canada and 150 international locations within five years. The expansion plans include two new locations at the Toronto Pearson International Airport for early 2024.
“Two years ago, we hit our 200th store and in early November of this year – we hit 250 stores, obviously a great milestone for the company. It shows our commitment to growth, our success we have been experiencing in the last few years in Canada, and it just got us really excited,” says Hadi Chahin, the CEO of MBI Brands Inc.
Celebrating its 250th milestone was supposed to be earlier, but after experiencing setbacks due to the pandemic, high interest rates, and delays with construction: “We are really excited about the next few years, because we have more lined up to open and every year we will be moving forward.”
Upcoming Expansions
Mary Brown’s Chicken is expecting to open five new locations by the end of January, including one location in Calgary in Creekside and four locations in Ontario: Milton, Kitchener, Richmond, and Windsor. There will also be new openings at the Toronto airport.
“The big exciting one for us coming in 2024, will be opening two locations at the Toronto International Airport. There will be one in Terminal One and one at Terminal Three. It is exciting, and it will require a different approach to what we do with our Express – it is all about speed so you can get your sandwich within a few minutes and you are not waiting.”
The airport locations will open for March 2024.
What is next?
Chahin says the idea is to open around 45 new locations in 2024 with the goal to reach 500 stores in Canada within the next five years. This will include entering into the Quebec market within the next two years with the potential of having between 80 to 100 overall. The first locations will most likely be in and around Montreal.
“We do not have any stores in Quebec today and we are working on an expansion plan because we do see opportunity there, but due to our international plans ramping up quickly we have decided to delay the expansion by a year or two.”
In 2024, the company will be expanding internationally and will be opening locations throughout the UK, Pakistan, and Mexico. To start, Chahin says there will be between six to ten locations next year. The goal would be to have over 150 international store openings within the next five years.
International locations opening soon will be in Lisburn Northern Ireland, Leicester England, and Mexico – opening within the first two months of 2024.
“The key reason why we continued to be successful and we continue to grow fast is our focus on being the best chicken restaurant and we have been awarded, such as the best chicken sandwich or best chicken restaurant, and we really play in that field and we want to stay focused. We do everything from scratch and we are a full service restaurant focusing on chicken only.”
New Concept and Menu Innovation
Chahin says the company is building a new prototype which will have a new look and feel of “what the future stores are looking like.” The new concept is already ready and will be releasing a few of those now. Chahin says the new concept will have bigger spaces, improved drive-through, better guest experience, and everything will be digital such as menu boards and displays: “It will give you a look of the future version and it will be exciting.”
Mary Brown’s Chicken will also continue to expand its menu to include new items and flavours.
“The one thing we do well with and we want to continue to expand on is how we can introduce new flavours. In the past, we have introduced a grilled chicken sandwich and we are reintroducing the sandwich in January, but with a new flavour and a new bun – it is really a great product.Then we will be introducing a Korean chicken sandwich flavour come March next year. So the focus is not on changing what we do, but expanding our taste profiles with new and trendy flavours.”
Supporting Franchises – “We want them to grow with us”
Chahin says the core of the business is supporting its franchises: “We want franchises to be successful – we want them to grow with us. Showing support to our franchises and making sure they are successful in their business has been one of the biggest factors of our exponential growth.”
Mary Brown’s Chicken has won the Franchise Choice Award 13 years in a row. To keep up to date, during the past year it has run engagement surveys to see how well locations are doing across different venues and stores.
“The surveys are a key factor we believe is going to drive us and make us different from anybody out there, and how we can make sure employee engagement and support is at the forefront in everything we do. When we take care of our people and grow with our people – they will support us back and take care of the guests; therefore, continue to drive the business forward.”
Shelby, great article on Mary Brown. A great small company now expanding and what they are doing is right up to date with what the market is demanding. They are quite a success and wish them well in these future expansion years. They have come a long way, from
the small store by our cottage in Lakefield Ontario.
I like chicken but I also like chicken gravy not beef gravy with my meal.
I asked at the one I go to and no one could give me an answer except that this one has always had beef gravy. Not my 1st choice.
Mary Brown’s gravy is always veggi gravy