A&W Food Services of Canada Inc.
    A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (TSX:AW.UN)VANCOUVER, Sept. 4 /CNW/ - A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is pleased to
announce it has awarded the company's first ever multi-site new restaurant
development agreement in Ontario. The agreement was awarded to existing
franchisees Upinder Dhanoa and Sandy Gill and calls for the development 12 new
A&W restaurants in the Hamilton, Burlington and Milton region to occur over
the next 5 years.
    Late last year, the company announced its intentions to accelerate new
restaurant growth by adopting a multi-site approach to all future franchise
development in Ontario. The Hamilton/Burlington/Milton agreement represents a
landmark in the company's 50 year history as a franchisor and according to
Graham Cooke, A&W's Vice President of New Restaurant Expansion, is the first
of many to come.
    "We are just delighted to have franchisees of the calibre of Upinder,
Sandy and their family, spearhead this new approach to growing the A&W brand
much more rapidly in Ontario. They have already proven their excellence as A&W
operators and have the operational, financial and organizational capability to
expand at an accelerated pace." Cooke went on to say that the company is about
to finalize several more multi-site agreements in other parts of Ontario.
Typically, each agreement will call for a commitment to build and operate 4-6
restaurants over a fixed period of time within a pre-designated geographical
area. So far, all of the activity has been confined to existing franchisees.
    "We're especially pleased that so many of our existing Ontario
franchisees have stepped up to take advantage of the multi-site opportunity.
Within the next few weeks, we'll be offering the opportunity for the first
time to the marketplace." Cooke said that although marketing is just getting
underway, the company has already received significant outside interest in its
multi-site development program.
    The company also plans to launch the multi-site concept in Quebec later
this year.

    A&W is Canada's second largest hamburger chain. Operating coast- to-
coast, A&W restaurants feature famous trade-marked menu items such as The
Burger Family®, Chubby Chicken® and A&W Root Beer®.