A focus on e-commerce and good old-fashioned quality food makes for a winning recipe.

Known as “Canada’s best chicken wing restaurant franchise,” WingsUp! restaurants has got you covered whenever you are looking for gourmet wings for takeout, delivery and catering.

Serving Southern Ontario since 1988, WingsUp! is a restaurant franchise system that specializes in quick-service takeout and delivery of Gourmet Chicken Wings, Sandwiches, Appetizers, and Wedges.

Earning the distinction of fastest growing Canadian chicken wing franchise is a testament to how much customers love the WingsUp! experience. The dedication to no heating trays, additives or fillers is at the heart of the company’s success. The focus is, and always has been, on taste and quality—from their batter mix blend of spices, to 18 sauce and seasoning flavours, right down to the finishing touches.

“Our model has always been a small footprint, takeout and delivery concept,” says Darren Czarnogorski, President of WingsUp!. “We firmly believed that in both high and low business cycles, there will always be a demand for high-quality, takeout, and delivery comfort food. By offering a truly fresh and satisfying comfort food experience, we stand out from other restaurants in the takeout and delivery space, and have carved out a very loyal following.”

WingsUp! evolved with the consumer trends while remaining true to its vision of freshness, quality, and convenience. E-Commerce evolved the business and made huge changes to how it operates since its inception—most notably how customers place their orders. “As the market evolved, we noticed that less and less people interacted with us over the phone or in person,” says Czarnogorski. “With the new technology giants like Netflix, and Amazon proving that people want to place orders online and consume them at their home, we understood that our customers were no different,” he adds, citing that currently 65 per cent of all of our orders come from online channels. “We expect that to grow to 90 per cent in the next few years.”

How did WingsUp! become an industry leader in customer service? One could point to its focus on a user-friendly e-commerce platform to make placing orders quicker and more convenient. The average transaction online is 25 per cent higher than the same transaction placed by phone or in-person, suggesting that people enjoy browsing through the product line and taking their time to place their order. “This “no pressure” approach to offering our products ends up lifting our overall average transaction,” says Czarnogorski. The delivery component of the WingsUp! business is equally important. “We do most of our deliveries in-house, and this provides a better experience to our customers. It allows us to do internal training with our team of drivers and provide a more tailored approach to our guest experience.”

But it’s not all tech-driven—the most important value that WingsUp! brings to its guests is quality. “Our food is made to order and we sell only fresh chicken. This is something that our guests recognize as a differentiator, and is crucial in turning each guest into a loyal enthusiast.”

Franchises

With 15 locations throughout southern Ontario and 28 new locations in various stages of development, WingsUp! is growing fast. Franchisees are drawn to the concept because of the company’s dedication to high quality, fresh comfort food, small footprint locations, great online presence, and a profitable unit economic model. “Our goal is to be in tune with new trends and technology, and we’re always innovating and working on new ideas,” says Czarnogorski. “Potential franchisees see this aspect of our organization and want to be a part of our modern system. Our growth also excites everyone we talk to.”

WingsUp! has finely-turned the franchisee system to set up clients for success—everything starts with the training system. This is one of the most important aspects of the model, says Czarnogorski. “Training is the foundation of our business and sets the stage for the location’s performance.” The group strongly believes in a team-based approach to solving problems. From Day One, the team works together with its Franchise Partners to set them up for success. This includes constant guidance on local marketing as well as ongoing operational support.

Czarnogorski says the opening of every new store is exciting. “We love joining a new community, and the opportunity to connect with the people in a new area. We want people to feel at home at our locations. We find that guests become very excited about our concept opening in their neighbourhood, and we’re always seeing locals pop in to see how we are coming along during construction. High quality comfort food is something everyone is passionate about.”

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