- Dixie Lee Fried Chicken
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Dixie Lee Food Systems Ltd. 
Type Privately-held company Industry Fast food (Fried Chicken) Founded 1964 in Belleville, Ontario Headquarters Napanee, Ontario, Canada Key people Joe Murano, President
David Silvester, Franchise ConsultantProducts Fish & Chips
Fried ChickenRevenue 
$55 million CND (2006)Employees 1,000 (est) Website dixieleechicken.com Dixie Lee is a franchised fried chicken fast-food restaurant 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. It has over 70 restaurants in operation in Canada and the United States, and one branch in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Contents
History
The original Dixie Lee restaurant opened in 1964 in Belleville, Ontario.
David Silvester started in the business in 1977 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 bought the Dixie Lee franchise parent company in 1979. Silvester moved to Dixie Lee's Head Office in Belleville. He was responsible for developing Dixie Lee from eight outlets in Ontario to more than 50 by 1987."[1]In 2007, Joe Murano assumed the management of the company as a president.
Dixie Lee operates over 77 restaurants in Canada and the United States with sales in excess of $55 million per year[citation needed]. Dixie Lee is ranked by the food and hospitality industry[citation needed] as the fourth largest chicken franchise company in Canada.[1]
Franchise coverage
Dixie Lee restaurants are located in Ontario (25 outlets), New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec.[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]
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.
Locations
The first Dixie Lee restaurant in New Brunswick opened its door in Caraquet in a small take-out restaurant just past the wharf. It moved following a fire during a winter storm to a new location where Cinéma Vidéo is now situated, not far from what was once the Enfant-Jésus hospital and next door to the Petro Canada gas station. It then moved on to a bigger building in the mid-1990s, where the Trio-Éclatant's clothing store once used to be. 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 close.
Avril Lavigne sings in her song "My World" about having worked here.
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. The macaroni salad in Caraquet for instance is pink in colour, due to a different salad dressing than the ordinary white one. They also serve home made desserts. 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.
The Dixie Lee branch in Dubai offers free wi-fi to attract customers.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d "Dixie Lee Official history page". Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061016065505/http://www.dixieleechicken.com/history.html. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
- ^ "Ottawa XPress - Food - Dixie Lee". http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/food/food.aspx?iIDArticle=10452. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
- ^ http://www.dixielee.ae/Promos.php
Categories:- Restaurants established in 1964
- Fast-food chains of Canada
- Fast-food chains of the United States
- Fast-food franchises
- Fast-food poultry restaurants
- Regional restaurant chains in the United States
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