Iconic Quebec City poutine chain changes hands after 54 years

A decade ago, mily Adam and Jean-Christophe Lirette wrote a business plan for a fast-food chain as part of a university project. Today, the couple in their early thirties are the proud new owners of the Quebec City poutine institution Chez Ashton.

"We're super happy, we're fulfilling one of our dreams," Adam told CBC.

The two entrepreneurs are originally from the Portneuf region, about 60 kilometres south of Quebec City. That's where they first got into the restaurant business, purchasing a snack bar called Ti-Oui that's still run by Lirette's family.

Adam and Lirette moved to the provincial capital after buying three Harvey's franchises but they always had their sights set on running a made-in-Quebec chain like Chez Ashton.

Talks with founder Ashton Leblond started three years ago. Adam says she and her partner have put in a lot of work behind the scenes, dealing with the challenges of the restaurant industry, riding out the pandemic and showing Leblond they were the right people to take over his business.

"We started with a casse-crote10years ago," she said."It's not something that happened overnight."

Quebec City roots

Ashton Leblond opened the first of 23 Chez Ashtonrestaurants over 50 years ago, getting his start in the Quebec City suburb of L'Ancienne-Lorettein 1969. When word got out that he was ready to move on, several fast food chains offered to buy him out but he wanted the business to keep its local ties.

"I'm proud to pass the torch to mily and Jean-Christophe," he wrote in a news release.

"They're from the region, they're young and they have the necessary experience. But most importantly, we have the same values people from here who have the business and the vitality of the region at heart."

Lirette wants to reassure people in the Quebec City area who count on Chez Ashton for a quick lunch or late-nightpoutine fix. He says fresh, local ingredients are at the heart of the couple's business model and they won't be changing the gravy recipe.

Chez Ashton's650 employees don't need to worry about their jobs either. As part of theagreement to buy the franchise, all staffmembers are being retained and the restaurant's head office will stay in Quebec City.

Settling in

Adam and Liretteare still processing the fact their dreamhas come to fruition. They say they'll takea few months to get to know everyone who's on the Chez Ashton teamand familiarize themselves with the business before making any changes.

Once they're settled in, they plan tomodernize theequipment at a few locations and streamline the customer serviceexperience while keeping the restaurants' vintage look.

"The goal is to bring in a breath of fresh air without completely changing the brand," said Lirette.

The details of the purchase weren't made public but Desjardins, CIBC and the FTQ solidarity fund financed the couple's bid. Chez Ashton's longtime shareholder and administrator Jean Ct was also involved in the saleand is sticking around to work with Lirette and Adam.

The pair said they'll focuson the Quebec City market to start and look to branch out to other regions in the future.

"Opening two or three new locations by 2023 would be realistic," Lirette said.