CSNC EXCLUSIVE: Execs talk QSR partnership at Orangestore’s Little Caesars ribbon-cutting
Atlantic Canada’s Orangestore chain, owned by fuel and convenience retailer North Sun Energy, has opened its first Little Caesars inside one of its stores in Clarenville, N.L., a community of about 7,000 residents.
The launch signals the beginning of an agreement between the two companies to bring the QSR pizza chain’s Express model to 18 Orangestore locations over the next few years. North Sun Energy operates 110 sites across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
While the official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 1, the Little Caesars Express has been open for business since Sept. 23.
David Button, president of North Sun Energy, spoke with CSNC from the ribbon-cutting, where he was joined by Clarenville Mayor John Pickett and city councillors, as well as the Clarenville High School band, which opened the festivities with a performance.
Starting at 11 a.m., the first 100 customers received a free Hot-N-Ready medium cheese or pepperoni pizza, which sold out within an hour. The location also serves the chain’s signature Crazy Bread and features a lounge counter in front of the window.
“The support from the community has been fantastic, with sales in the first week better than we anticipated,” says Button. “We expected a dinner rush, but we’re also getting strong support from school kids and the wider community at lunch, too. We’ve had line-ups most days and even created a queuing lane down the hallway toward the washrooms.”
Located off the Trans-Canada Highway, “this location benefits from getting both local Clarenville traffic and transient travellers,” he adds.
Button says the deal with Little Caesars represents a shift in its foodservice expansion beyond Café Orange, its fresh food on-the-go restaurant concept which was reimagined and relaunched in 2022.
“We’ve historically had a landlord-tenant relationship, with about 20 such QSR deals [including over the years with Tim Hortons and Subway]. And so directionally, we’re moving to a kind of owner-operator of QSR with this development agreement with Little Caesars,” he says. “We’ve also signed a development agreement with A&W as well. And so, we’re currently in the QSR pizza and burger business.”
For the third-largest pizza chain in the word, the collaboration with North Sun Energy represents Little Caesars’ largest franchise agreement to date in Canada.
“We have many Little Caesars locations inside c-stores across North America, but we’re still growing the channel in Canada,” says Chloe Battalia, managing director, Canada, for the chain. “We have about 10 locations right now. And there has been a lot of interest due to the fact that this concept utilizes existing real estate.”
In Ontario, for example, Little Caesars has a development deal with Waypoint Convenience, which last year opened an Express outlet inside a Mississauga store.
Mike Therrian, global director, international development at Detroit-based Little Caesar Enterprises, who was also onsite in Clarenville with Battalia, says the deal with North Sun Energy helps the chain reach smaller markets.
“North Sun Energy is a great partner because they already have a strong presence in smaller towns and have strong teams in place,” says Therrian. “It’s a great plug and play for both of us. Obviously, our goal is to have many more sites here in Atlantic Canada with North Sun Energy.”
Button says the next Little Caesars Express location will open in an Orangestore in Kelligrews (Conception Bay South), N.L., and then likely Timberlea, N.S. Both towns have populations under 10,000.
In addition to being integrated into existing Orangestores, a handful of the 18 Little Caesars will be in new c-store builds.
