Design and Construction

Smitty’s™ provides the complete design and drawings for your restaurant at no additional cost to you. Any costs for local architectural or engineers’ stamps, including local electrical and mechanical distribution drawings, will be your responsibility.

The tendering process and construction are your responsibility, although we will assist to coordinate the completion of these and our Project Director will work with you to coordinate the landlord, architects, contractors and suppliers. You will receive a Design and Construction Manual to help the process run smoothly.

Conversions

The success of our concept rests solely on the fact that we treat every meal occasion as an event. Whether we are visited for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a snack, our philosophy is to ensure that every customer leaves satisfied!

Smitty’s™ has successfully created a market in converting existing food and beverage facilities including free-standing, shopping malls, strip centres, as well as in hotels and motels into our franchises.

Most hotels and motels are in the restaurant business out of necessity. In order to attract hotel guests and to achieve a higher room rate, it is thought that there should be food and beverage on the property.

Hotel and motel owners generally don't have expertise on this side of their business, and accordingly, run a restaurant operation that quite often is unprofitable and does not satisfy guests. This can be a direct reflection on the hotel and negatively impact upon room occupancy.

Therefore, there is an opportunity for Smitty’s™ to solve the problem by providing a proven system of food and beverage franchising, with continuous monitoring and support.

At the same time, what may have been a financial loss to the hotel becomes a profit. In addition to a lower investment cost versus new construction, this arrangement puts the franchisee in a position to obtain immediate cash flow from customers who are staying in the hotels.

We recognize there are many alternatives to eating out in general, let alone in one of our restaurants. The onus is on us to ensure that the customer is more than just satisfied each time they visit us. Good food, at a reasonable price, served quickly in a friendly manner all add up to a good feeling for having dined at Smitty’s™ - and a desire to return frequently.

The Smitty’s™ System

What do I get when I buy a Smitty's™ Franchise?
When you purchase a Smitty's™ Franchise you are buying several decades of brand development, consumer recognition and guest loyalty. In addition, we have documented in detail our operating systems and programs within nine manuals. The titles for these manuals are:

The Smitty's™ system has been further documented with our "Presentation and Portion Standards Manual" where all menu items are pictured in photographs and the recipes are shown with all of the ingredients, portioning, cooking, assembly and plating presention.

Our Menus

We carefully research the market and test our products in order to update our award winning menu every six (6) months. Our menu fills the customers' needs for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Although Smitty's™ is famous for many items, we know variety will keep our customers returning for more spectacular meals. That’s why our corporate chef and the Franchisee Menu Committee, made up from existing Franchisees across the country, are continuously testing new products.

You will be supplied with our detailed recipes and a Portions and Standards Manual that is updated regularly. Smitty's™ provides regular business conferences to keep all franchisees up-to-date with current standards, trends in the industry and specifications for the Smitty’s™ operating system.

Smitty's™ is proud to offer a substantial kid’s menu, offering menu items for every meal as well as a fine selection of favorite menu choices for our valued customers’ aged 60 and better.

VIEW SMITTY'S™ MENUS

Products

Smitty's™ pancake and waffle flours are prepared from our secret recipes, the formula for which is closely guarded. Our spray-dry formula contains all the ingredients including, buttermilk, eggs, oil and butter. Just add water, and the mixes are ready for the grill.

Smitty’s™ breakfast selections have been tremendously popular with Canadians for over 50 years and show no signs of slowing down. Numerous other items including sauces, seasonings, syrups and prepared ready-to-use products are manufactured for Smitty’s™ to exact specifications. All are designed to provide top quality, easy use and customer appeal.

Smitty's™ is committed to offering the highest quality, the freshest foods and a "just like home experience" in all Smitty's™ restaurants.

Products Sold by the Franchisor
We supply our famous Smitty's™ pancake and waffle mix to all our franchisees and provide standardized pricing from coast to coast, through our national distributor. Because Smitty’s™ is committed to offering the highest quality foods and keeping the foods at a consistent level throughout the franchise, we provide private labeled coffee, syrups, french fries, hashbrowns and high volume meats such as bacon, sausage, chicken, and burgers.

As a Smitty's™ franchisee, you will benefit from the buying power of our corporation. Our suppliers consistently produce superior quality products that are available to you at costs lower than those available to independent restaurateurs.

Marketing

National Marketing
The Smitty's™ brand is present throughout Canada, resulting in substantial customer awareness. Smitty’s™ does not currently collect national advertising fees from any franchisees. We do lever our supplier connections to ensure that our customers know we use the finest quality items that are well known to Canadian consumers. Our suppliers offer marketing support to assist Smitty’s™ in sales promotions at the national level. Cooperative promotions using brand names are a proven success for Smitty’s™.

Smitty's™ "Senior's Club" was established to reach the increasingly large demographic of seniors in Canada by offering individuals over 60+ the opportunity to buy into the club for a $2.00 annual fee. Once a member, seniors receive a $5.00 gift certificate, a 15% discount on all their meals at the restaurant, and a complimentary meal for their Birthday. This program has proven to be very popular in the areas in which it has been implemented across the country.

Local Store Marketing

Browse the gallery below to view some Local Store Marketing examples!

Frequent Questions

Start up Costs

The following chart summarizes the major costs for opening a Smitty’s™ Restaurant.

Typical Range of Cost for a Smitty’s™ Restaurant and Lounge*

*(These figures are estimates, based on our experience) Franchise Fee $35,000 For a 20-Year Franchise Agreement (GST/HST Extra)

Royalty 5% of gross sales (not including liquor sales)

Advertising 3% of sales (not currently collected)

New Restaurant

Opening Inventory $20,000

Training Costs $10,000 to $30,000

Consulting Fees - $20,000 - $30,000

Lease Deposits $10,000 to $30,000

Equipment $160,000 to $180,000

Furniture and Fixtures $150,000 to $200,000

Leasehold Improvements $400,000 - $600,000 Less any landlord inducement allowances

The cost of premises (leasing costs if the facilities are leased and land and building costs if the facilities are owned) cannot be estimated, as they will vary, from case to case, depending on the particular circumstances.

Conversion Cost of Existing Restaurant

Opening Inventory $20,000

Training Costs $10,000 to $30,000

Equipment $10,000 to $150,000

Furniture and Fixtures $50,000 to $100,000

Leasehold Improvements $50,000 to $300,000

The conversion cost may have significant variations depending on the condition and type of equipment and leasehold improvements.