Canadian chicken wing franchise defends turf and name

Canadian dining chain Wild Wing announced an aggressive expansion strategy Friday, with plans to immediately open 30 more locations just two days after a U.S. competitor by a similar name said it was coming to Canada.

Wild Wing, an Ontario-based company specializing in flavoured chicken wings, already has 70 restaurants open and plans to make it more than 100 by year’s end. Within three years that number could double with eateries planned for Alberta, B.C. and the East Coast, the franchise said Friday.

Wild Wing also plans to go ahead with a formal legal claim with respect to its name “denouncing unabashed attempts to take advantage of Wild Wing good will through bad faith conduct misleading Wild Wing franchisees.”

“Wild Wing is the number one chicken wing brand in Canada and attributes this success to the strength and image of the Wild Wing brand,” founder Rick Smiciklas said in the release.

Just this week, Minneapolis, Minn.-based Buffalo Wild Wings formally announced plans to open 50 restaurants on this side of the border over the next few years starting with locations in Southern Ontario.

A spokesperson from Wild Wing was unable to confirm whether legal action is in response to Buffalo Wild Wings’ arrival to Canada. More details will be available at a Sept. 1 press conference, she said.

Smiciklas who started the privately owned business back in 1999 with only $100 in a failed business account and $600 loan from his mother-in-law. He used the money to take lease on a small-town Ontario restaurant and received bank financing to get the business up and running.

Watch Sharon Singleton's interview with Buffalo Wild Wings CEO Sally Smith