DIVERSE TASTES Pacini Almost 40 years ago, a tiny spaghetti restaurant, La boîte à spaghetti, opened in Quebec City. That was the starting point for a fine casual Italian restaurant chain, rebranded as Pacini in 1984, that is firmly established in Quebec and Alberta, and is now set to expand both east and west, into New Brunswick, Ontario, and British Columbia. “Our culture attracts a specific type of franchisee,” says Nathalie Lehoux, Happy President. “Happiness at work has always been important, and this is a culture we have been working on. We want franchisees who are committed to taking care of the happiness and wellbeing of people – their staff and their guests.” Additionally, she says, the ideal franchisee will love the Italian table, be a passionate host and rigorous manager, and have a sense of humour. The franchise offers a proven operations model, eight weeks of initial training for the manager, and specific training for other staff, with training and coaching taking place on-site at the new location. Restaurants are supported by marketing, HR, accounting, and other services on an ongoing basis. “Our main role is to support our franchisees in their restaurant’s operations,” says Lehoux. The lack of human resources is a challenge for all restaurants, says Lehoux, and she predicts that will
continue for the next 10 to 15 years. Pacini has a recognition plan that rewards different aspects of staff performance across all restaurants, and is proactive in promoting a “happy culture” where employees are valued and respected. Pacini is developing new stand-alone restaurants, but also has a large focus on the conversion of existing hotel restaurants. Hotel owners want to run an on-site restaurant that is profitable, says Lehoux, and a trend that started in Europe is to have a recognized brand name. By operating a Pacini, she notes, “you have a restaurant that attracts not just travellers and visitors to the city, but local people, as well.” PACINI STATS Franchise units in Canada: 18 Corporate units in Canada: 12 Franchise fee: $50K Investment required: $1.5M Start-up capital required: $750K Training: 10 weeks Available territories: All of Canada In business since: 1980 Franchising since: 1985 CFA member since: 2013
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