Commercial real estate: Four major food chains set for Canadian expansion

Type #innout into your Instagram search and more than a million posts pop up. Other similar or misspelled hashtags pump out hundreds of thousands of photos and videos of people eating or bragging about the popular greasy burgers.

There is a good chance you know someone who loves In-N-Out Burger and wonders why the American burger chain has yet to open any locations in Canada.

“A lot of us (Canadians) do travel, and we (follow many) social media and influencers,” said Craig Patterson, a Canadian retail consultant and editor-in-chief of Retail Insider.

“It’s almost like the world has become so small that these global brands now are able to create a brand awareness even before they come into a market and people will get excited about it.”

Patterson recently shared his list of four of the most successful restaurant chains that are either expanding their Canadian footprint or are poised to set up shop in Canada. In-N-Out made the list.

Jollibee

The 44-year-old fast-food chain from the Philippines now has thousands of restaurants around the world. Only six of those, so far, are in Canada. The company opened its first store in Canada in 2016 in Winnipeg.

Known for its fried chicken, simple burgers and Jolly Spaghetti, the fast food giant now has a second Winnipeg location, three in the Greater Toronto Area, and another new store in Edmonton, Patterson said.

“The excitement around the opening of Jollibee restaurants is off the charts.”

Lineups for their grand openings have become media events with their eager fans’ dedication and anticipation becoming a central cog in the company’s informal marketing machine.

“For sure, the Vancouver market would make a heck of a lot of sense (for a Jollibee opening),” Patterson said. “It’s obviously not ‘if’, it’s going to be ‘when’.”

Eataly

This Italian-themed, grocery-restaurant combination is set to open its first Canadian location this year in Toronto’s Yorkville District at the Manulife Centre.

“The one in Toronto is going to be about 50,000 square feet,” Patterson said, describing the concept an “almost-chaotic, highly experiential food emporium.”

Eataly’s markets include a mix of grocery, restaurants and take-away counters with customers having the option of having their purchases cooked for them in the dining areas. Eataly now has locations in New York, Las Vegas, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and L.A.

“They’re looking at expanding further into Canada,” Patterson said. “They want to do a second location in Toronto, but they haven’t said where yet. They’ve also said they’re looking at doing one location either in Montreal or Vancouver, or both. I think it’s a matter of trying to find space.”

Chick-fil-A

This Atlanta-based giant is the third-largest fast food chain in the U.S. And now, the controversial company is coming here.

Known for its chicken sandwiches, but also its recent history of making anti-LGBTQ group donations and its president’s public condemnations against homosexuality, Chick-fil-A is set to open its only Canadian store in Toronto this Friday at 1 Bloor Street East. (Chick-fil-A initially had a location at Calgary’s airport, but that is now closed).

“They’ll expand,” Patterson said. “I think they said they want to do over 100 locations in Canada.”

He said it is interesting that the company selected a location near the entrance of Toronto’s Gay Village for their first store. “It’s a hyper liberal-type of area,” Patterson said.

The opening is reportedly attracting a protest mostly focused on the company’s ties to LGBTQ hate groups.

In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out will be “in” Canada this weekend, and then “out” after that. The popular burger chain and Instagram post-generating machine is preparing a pop-up restaurant in Aldergrove during a car show event on Saturday, Sept. 7 — for one day only.

The 70-year-old American chain has already become popular with Canadians without opening any stores here.

“I would expect that they’re … testing the market,” Patterson said. “It’s probably a sign that they’re looking at coming here to Canada at some point. I don’t think they would do (the pop-up) for no reason.”