Canada’s Wild Wing to settle with U.S. competitor (Update)

Canada’s Wild Wing restaurant chain plans to settle a sticky issue with an American competitor that’s moving into the beer and flavoured chicken business here, paving the way for Wild Wing to expand into the U.S. and other markets.

Aurora, Ont.-based Wild Wing plans to sign an agreement with Buffalo Wild Wings over their similar names and product offerings.

QMI Agency originally reported that a co-existence agreement had been reached, however both companies have now clarified that while a proposal is on the table, a formal deal has not yet been reached. Incorrect information was supplied to QMI Agency. Wild Wing founder Rick Smiciklas now says he plans to sign the agreement if minor changes, made by his lawyers, are accepted.

"Buffalo Wild Wings has not come to any formal agreement with Wild Wing Restaurants, but we remain willing to discuss and resolve with them any perceived issues relating to the Canadian market," Matt Brokl, general counsel representing Buffalo Wild Wings, said in a note.

“We’ve agreed to co-exist in both marketplaces and we’re proud to say we will be opening up Wild Wing hopefully all over the United States,” Smiciklas said on Wednesday.

Two days after Minneapolis, Minn.-based Buffalo Wild Wings announced plans to come to Canada, Wild Wing announced its own aggressive expansion strategy and that it had prepared a lawsuit to protect its brand.

Smiciklas said the lawsuit, to be filed with the Ontario Superior Court, wasn’t designed to hurt anybody but he needed to protect the company, franchisees and customers.

“I have a rule if someone hits you, you got to hit them back 10 times harder. Let them know you are serious,” he said. “At the end of the day I wish them well.”

With a lawsuit out the way, Smiciklas would be free to focus on expanding Wild Wing’s existing 70 stores. Wild Wing plans to open 30 more Canadian locations by year’s end.

Wild Wing is fending off competition from Buffalo Wild Wings, which plans to open 50 stores on this side of the border, and from chains such as St. Louis Bar & Grill which has been opening up a flurry of stores in Canada’s large urban centres.

But Wild Wing has set its sights on smaller towns.

“Toronto, it’s a big market and there’s enough for everybody,” Smiciklas said.

“It’s fair to say we’re not a Toronto-based competition business anyway.”

Within three years, the number of Wild Wing chains in Canada could double with eateries planned for Alberta, B.C., Quebec and the East Coast.

Wild Wing even has a deal in principle to open up shop in Iran.

Smiciklas said there is niche market demand in countries such as Iran and India.

“It’s something different,” he said. “We’re not all about wings, we’re about selling fun and other types of food too.”

To help fund the expansion, Smiciklas plans to raise new capital, take the company public and list on the Toronto Stock Exchange within six months. Canaccord Genuity are on board as underwriters.

He’s aiming to raise roughly $17 million.

“We’re pretty self-sufficient,” he said.

Smiciklas estimates Wild Wind system-wide sales for 2011 will top $100 million.

That puts Wild Wing among the top 25 chains in the country, he said.

Smiciklas started the privately-owned business back in 1999 with only $100 in a failed business account and a $600 loan from his mother-in-law. He used the money to take a lease at 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