About A&W

Stop in at today’s A&W, and you may be surprised at how little has changed in nearly 50 years of business. Teen Burgers still come in a foil bag. You can sip A&W Root Beer from a frosted glass mug. Onion Rings are still handmade at every location. But don’t let the remarkable endurance of our signature products fool you. A&W is a business that has evolved dramatically with changing times.

A Remarkable Evolution

A&W was Canada’s first burger chain, opening in Winnipeg in 1956. By 1966, A&W operated over 200 drive-in restaurants -- serving the Baby Boomer generation and their parents right in their cars. A&W continued to enjoy strong success in Canada’s fast food segment until fundamental shifts began to reshape the marketplace in the early 1970's. At that time, a number of US based competitors were beginning their aggressive expansion into Canada, just as consumer interest in drive-ins was beginning to decline.

Responding to the changing business environment, A&W management embarked on a new strategy to renew the company. We closed many of our drive-in restaurants in Eastern Canada in order to focus on our stronger restaurants in Western Canada. As a major thrust of this strategy, we also became the first restaurant chain to identify and participate in the rapid growth of retail shopping centres across Canada. By the early 1980's, A&W was once again growing rapidly and had become the leader in the shopping centre food service market.

In 1986, we recognized that A&W had the opportunity to further accelerate expansion by moving beyond shopping centres. Consumer research indicated that A&W's recognized strengths -- taste and food quality -- were powerful attractions to consumers and that no competitor was satisfying these needs. In 1991, following a major overhaul of our menu, operating systems and design facilities for freestanding restaurants, we commenced an aggressive expansion program. Focusing first on Western Canada, we opened 160 freestanding A&W restaurants during the 1990's. Beginning in 2000, we initiated an aggressive freestanding expansion plan in Ontario and Québec.

A&W Today

Today, A&W is Canada’s second largest hamburger chain, by number of restaurants, with over 670 restaurants coast to coast. An extremely well established, highly successful consumer business, we generated sales in excess of half a billion dollars and served over 80 million customers in 2004.

A&W’s success is well recognized in the industry and the business community. In 1999, A&W was recognized as the “Franchisor of the Year” by the Canadian Franchise Association, and we have been a finalist for this award in two other years. In 2002, we were recognized with a Pinnacle Award as Restaurant Company of the Year. Then, in December 2002, 2003 and 2004, we were recognized as one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada.

A&W’s Ownership History

1995: A&W management, together with a group of institutional investors, purchased the A&W restaurant business from Unilever Canada Limited.

2000: A&W management acquired the interests of the institutional investors, making A&W a 100% Canadian owned and operated company.

2002: The A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AW.UN) by way of an initial public offering. The fund owns the A&W trademarks, and licenses them to A&W Food Services, which continues to operate as a separate company.