Regina Fuddruckers to be first of five new spots in western Canada

A Regina businessman is aiming to have the province's second Fuddruckers restaurant up and running in Regina by the spring of 2016. 

Randy Nicolle confirmed that he was given the go-ahead by the Texas-based franchise earlier this year, and that his choice for the first of five locations is Regina, his hometown. 

"It's exciting. I made a little post on Facebook saying 'do you remember Fuddruckers, and would you like to see one again?'

"It just went viral. It was absolutely incredible, the responses it received," Nicolle said. 

It started when he moved back to Regina four years ago. A friend approached him about getting back into the restaurant business; the pair originally started looking at Tim Hortons. 

"We quickly realized that one of the chains that's missing in Regina that everybody loves is Fuddruckers," he said. 

After two years of pursuing the venture, the company gave him the go-ahead this year in March. 

Part of the deal includes a minimum of five locations opened between Saskatchewan and Alberta. Nicolle said he expects to open one per year, with the first spot going in Regina.

"The Saskatoon store is the highest volume store in their system by far. So it was an obvious choice to have Regina open up as a second store in Canada," he said.

"Regina being my home, I decided to open it up here first," he said. 

The spot for the new joint will likely by the east end of the city.

Nicolle said he's looking at a few locations, but his preference is for the city's east end, due to the high volume of traffic that passes through the area each day.