2 of 4 Canada's Greek Pizza Restaurant Named "Boston" fa Great Thing In 1964, Greek immigrant Gus Agioritis opened the Boston Pizza and Spaghetti House in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Within four years, he began offering franchise opportunities. Noting its success and popularity, Jim Treliving quit the police force and opened his first Boston Pizza franchise in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. Five years later, Jim and his accountant at the time, George Melville, became business partners and over the next decade opened more than a dozen Boston Pizza restaurants throughout the province of British Columbia. Finally, in 1983, the pair bought the company and divested themselves of the franchises they owned to other franchisees, keeping one and converting it into a corporate training centre. The duo planned to turn the successful franchise operation into a fast- growing company and move into new markets. Jim and George are known for their open communication style and the fact that they have never had an argument. When they set up a corporate office, the pair decided they would have no doors on their own offices, to encourage each other to walk in at any time. Their communicative business relationship was demonstrated after Jim relocated to Toronto and hadn't contacted George in three days. According to Jim, George called him and said, "You haven't phoned me in three days-what's going on down there?" Jim replied, "George, I'm busy." George said it didn't matter how busy they were, and he boarded a plane for Toronto to meet with his business partner. National Expansion In 1989, the company decided it was time to begin expanding. Jim and George set their sights on eastern Canada, but failed. The three restaurants they opened were closed within six years and the company retreated to western Canada. In analyzing the failed expansion, they realized they needed someone senior out east to lead the expansion effort; essentially, they had to treat the eastern Canada market as a totally new market. The pair tried again in 1997, and this time they opened a new corporate office in Mississauga, Ontario. Jim uprooted his life and moved east to neighbouring Toronto, along with Mark Pacinda, a new hire who would run the eastern Canada office. Jim and Mark found that people in Toronto had different patterns to those out west. In the western city of Vancouver, most families go out for dinner after 6:00 p.m., but in the Toronto suburbs, shift workers would pick up their children at 3:00 p.m. and go directly to a restaurant for dinner. There were many examples like this, proving to the company's senior team that it was doing the right thing by opening a corporate office in the east. In addition to staffing levels, the company began customizing the restaurant menu, the bar menu and the style of service provided in some areas. The strategy was a success and today Boston Pizza is the largest casual dining chain in Canada, with 365 restaurants across the nation. Each restaurant boasts a family dining side and a sports bar side and typically has a large patio for dining and socializing in the summer. The bulk of its training has been moved online to provide consistency across franchises. Franchisees are provided with a great deal of support and resources, ranging from assistance when purchasing a property, to having a team from the head office travel to the new location and stay there for four weeks after launch. In its experience, the company's senior team has realized a strong opening is critical to a new restaurant's success.