Harvey's big cheese drops by

Harvey's Canada is banking its new Pierrefonds location will be lead to its revitalization in the Quebec market where a number of the chain's restaurants closed in recent years, including ones in Dollard des Ormeaux and Dorval.

Rick McNabb, president of Harvey's, said the new location on Pierrefonds Boulevard is part of a re-launch, which includes more humble-sized restaurants and an emphasis on its traditional mainstay — hamburgers. "For 10 or 12 years Harvey's growth was stagnant," McNabb told <@RI>The Chronicle<@$p> during a recent grand opening ceremony at the Pierrefonds location. "This opening is a new beginning after we closed a number of stores that were not doing great. We're not exiting Quebec."

Currently, Harvey’s has 46 locations in Quebec, down from about 100 two decades ago, McNabb said. "Because some stores closed in the Montreal area, some people may have felt Harvey's was leaving the market, but we're not going anywhere," he said.

The new Pierrefonds location is about 2,200 square-feet in size and is a model the chain wants to promote. "This will drive down investment costs (for potential franchise owners)," McNab said, adding the new Harvey's in Pierrefonds is corporate owned, with manager Bryan Vieira handling day-to-day activities. The cost to open up a Harvey's franchise these days is $550,000, down from $850,000, he said. "We're streamlining our menus in order to focus on our core hamburger business, so no more deli sandwiches," he added. "This will enhance and speed up services as well."

He said Harvey's plans to add about 50 new stores in Quebec over the next six years. "We're trying to get back to the 100 we had in Quebec before," he added.

In Ontario, there are currently about 180 stores and the target there is to have 250 locations. "The hamburger business is a huge business but we still have a small share of the burger business," McNabb said

Harvey's has 286 restaurants nationwide serving up more than 35 million grilled burgers a year with $220 million in sales. Harvey's is a division of Cara Operations Ltd.