White Spot is a Canadian restaurant chain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, best known for its hamburgers, Pirate Pak children's meal, triple-o sauce, and milkshakes. Along with its related Triple-O's quick service brand, the chain operates over 100 locations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Asia.

History

In the 1920s, White Spot's founder,

Nat Bailey Nathaniel Ryal Bailey (January 31, 1902 – March 27, 1978), better known as Nat Bailey, was an American-born Canadian restaurateur, and the founder of White Spot restaurants. He is known for building the first drive-in restaurant in Canada, in 19 ...

, operated a travelling lunch counter in Vancouver, operating out of a 1918 Model T. He sold hotdogs for a dime and ice cream for a nickel. In 1928, Bailey founded the first White Spot restaurant. Initially, he had planned on naming the eatery the ''Granville Barbecue'', but changed his mind instead taking the advice of a friend who suggested he name it White Spot after a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The first restaurant was located in the

Marpole Marpole, originally a Musqueam village named , is a mostly residential neighbourhood of 23,832 in 2011, located on the southern edge of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, immediately northeast of Vancouver International Airport, and is approx ...

neighbourhood, at 67th and Granville Street, at what would become known as Granville House, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The restaurant was called ''White Spot Barbecue Sandwiches'', evolving into a drive-in and dining room. By 1955, the chain was serving 10,000 cars a day and 110,000 customers a week. By the 1990s, some White Spot drive-ins were phased out owing to an increase in the number of franchise restaurants and a gradual decrease in the popularity of drive-ins. Granville House was a popular dining spot until 1986 when a fire in the kitchen damaged the building. The restaurant closed permanently at that location shortly thereafter, despite some talk of rebuilding.

Franchising and growth

The chain was sold to General Foods in 1968 when Bailey retired. In 1982, White Spot returned to local ownership when the company was purchased by BC businessman Peter Toigo, becoming part of Shato Holdings Limited. After his death in 1993, his sons Peter and Ron Toigo took over ownership. In 1986, the chain was sued in the court case ''Gee v. White Spot''. The plaintiffs, Mr. Gee and Mr. and Mrs. Pan, claimed damages for botulism poisoning related to a beef dip sandwich. The decision made it easier for diners to sue restaurants for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...

and implied warranty instead of the harder-to-prove negligence (Canadian tort law expressly disavows

strict In mathematical writing, the term strict refers to the property of excluding equality and equivalence and often occurs in the context of inequality and monotonic functions. It is often attached to a technical term to indicate that the exclusive ...

product liability). In 1993, White Spot introduced franchising, and in 1997 it launched its Triple-O's quick service brand, which is named after White Spots' trademark hamburger sauce. Since 1999, the company's franchises have been installed on some ships in the BC Ferries fleet. By the 2000s, the chain was opening burger-focused takeouts at its Triple-O's locations. In 2012, 64 White Spot restaurants and 62 Triple-O's served 17 million customers and generated $200 million in gross revenues. Chef Chuck Currie has been featured in marketing campaigns alongside guest celebrity chefs hailing from Vancouver, including John Bishop, Rob Feenie, Umberto Menghi, and Melissa Craig.

International locations

The company experimented with international locations across the nearby United States border in Bellingham, Washington, without much success. Abroad, White Spot has expanded its Triple-O's chain into Hong Kong in the early 2000s and, more recently, Bangkok, Singapore, Manila, and Mainland China. In Hong Kong, four such stores can be found at the basement of Pacific Place, and in

Exchange Square Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

, on the

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

; and at Cooked Deli in the Harbour City shopping mall in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

and in Shatin. The three Hong Kong franchises each record more than twice as many sales as the average location in BC. A location in Seoul, South Korea, opened in September, 2008. It is located near

Dosan Park Dosan Park is a park in the neighborhood of Sinsa-dong, Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1973 to commemorate the achievement and legacy of independence activist An Chang-ho, whose pen name was ''Dosan''. In Dosan Park, there i ...

, in the

Apgujeong Apgujeong-dong (; ) is a ward of Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea. It is considered one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in South Korea. It was reported that housing price of Apgujeong-dong is approximately US$28,300 per one square meter bKorea M ...

neighbourhood.

References

External links

White Spot Ltd.Triple-O's by White SpotTriple-O's Hong Kong
{{Vancouver Corporations 1928 establishments in British Columbia Restaurants in Vancouver Drive-in restaurants Fast-food chains of Canada Hamburger restaurants Hot dog restaurants Restaurants established in 1928 Restaurants in Alberta Regional restaurant chains in Canada Restaurants in Hong Kong Restaurants in South Korea Restaurants in Singapore Canadian companies established in 1928

History

Franchising and growth

International locations

See also

References

External links