Dixie Lee Fried Chicken
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dixie Lee Food Systems Ltd. | |
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| Type | Privately-held company |
| Founded | 1964 in Belleville, Ontario |
| Headquarters |  Napanee, Ontario, Canada |
| Key people | Joe Murano, President David Silvester, Franchise Consultant |
| Industry | Fast food (Fried Chicken) |
| Products | Fish & Chips Fried Chicken |
| Revenue | ▲$55 million CND (2006) |
| Employees | 1,000 (est) |
| Website | dixieleechicken.com |
Dixie Lee is a franchised fried chicken fast-food restaurant originally founded in Belleville, Ontario in 1964. Joe Murano is the president of the company since 2007. The corporate head office is located in Napanee, Ontario with over 80 restaurants in operation in Canada and in part of the United States.
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[edit] History
The original Dixie Lee restaurant opened in 1964 in Belleville, Ontario.
Then David Silvester "started in the business in 1970 as an owner/operator of a single Dixie Lee outlet in Castlegar, British Columbia. He then acquired a Dixie Lee Area Franchise for British Columbia where he opened and sold 17 franchises.
After developing British Columbia, he was successful in purchasing the Dixie Lee franchise parent company in 1979. This facilitated Silvester's move to Dixie Lee's Head Office in Belleville, Ontario. He was responsible for developing Dixie Lee from 8 outlets in Ontario to more than 50 by 1987."[1]
In 2007, Joe Murano assumed the management of the company as a president.
Today, Dixie Lee operates over 80 restaurants in Canada and the United States with sales in excess of 55 million dollars per year[citation needed]. Dixie Lee is ranked by the Food and Hospitality Industry[citation needed] as the 4th largest chicken franchise company in Canada.[1]
[edit] Franchise Coverage
Dixie Lee restaurants are located in Ontario (33 outlets), New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and in Ogdensburg, New York. [1]
The outlets located in Eastern Canada are managed by Dixie Lee Maritimes Ltd, while those in other areas of Canada and the United States are operated by Dixie Lee Food Systems Ltd.[1]
[edit] Menu and Nutrition
Dixie Lee restaurants serve fish and chips, fried chicken, nuggets and other side items such as cole slaw, French fries, and soft drinks. According to its website, fried products are prepared with trans-fat free oils
The company's website states that its chicken products may contain trace amount of MSG and that other products may contain allergens and ingredients that may cause sensitivity to some persons.
[edit] Trivia
The first Dixie Lee restaurant in New Brunswick opened its door in Caraquet where Cinéma Vidéo is now situated, next to the Enfant-Jésus hospital and the Petro Canada gas station. It then moved to a bigger building in the mid-90's, where the Greenberg clothing store was located. Successively other restaurants opened in Shippagan, Tracadie-Sheila and then in Lamèque. The Tracadie-Sheila location is one of the biggest Dixie Lee restaurants in New-Brunswick, and one of the first to include a drive-through function.
The Dixie Lee franchise in Bathurst, New Brunswick is known for its popularity among teenagers and university students once bars have closed. Few youth in the area haven't made a late night run to "Dirty Bird", and an ongoing joke in the area is that no Friday night is complete without a trip to Dixie Lee.
Even though they serve about the same menu, the food served at each restaurant does not always taste the same. For example, the clams strips sold at the Shediac location come from the local coast, while some other locations serve clams strips that can be found in any grocery store. Also, the recipes of the coleslaw and the macaroni salad may vary greatly between restaurants. Matt Harrison and Aaron McKenzie Fraser of OttawaXpress web site report that the food prepared in the Maritimes' restaurants tastes better in New Brunswick than in Ontario.[2] Some customers also state that the franchises in the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick have a certain variation in the quality of the food, regardless on how close they are geographically.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Dixie Lee Official history page. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
- ^ Ottawa XPress - Food - Dixie Lee. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
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