No flames, plenty of handshakes as dragon visits P.A.

Treliving said it comes down to the franchisee being active in the community.

“They live in the city, they know and understand it, more than any of us corporately do,” Treliving said.

As part of the visit Treliving and Melville joined general manager Tyler Birkland in presenting a cheque for $5,000 to the Children’s Haven in Prince Albert.

Boston Pizza in Prince Albert first opened in 1999 and Treliving says when they were looking for locations to open the franchise, it just made sense.

“It’s not just the city, it’s the surrounding area that comes in here. It’s a great trading area, it’s great for business,” said Treliving. “We just thought it’s another prairie town for us that really does well.”

Melville said the location made sense because of the major highway connections.

“We were building on a highway so we’ve got some transient traffic,” said Melville. “But really what it came down to was the franchisees, and we got some really great people involved, and they came and lived here and built a business.”

Treliving was easily recognized by lunchtime patrons at Boston Pizza on Tuesday, and both himself and Melville were widely welcomed.

The Dragon’s Den star said that he had one emotional moment with a customer.

“There’s a lady came and gave me a present for my wife, and she said I was inspired by your show, she had tears in her eyes, and it brought a lump in my throat,” said Treliving. “I feel so good when you see that happen, that’s what we were part of, that’s what the give back was.”

Much like the annual charity Boston Pizza runs Treliving said it’s important to give back.

“You can’t take, take, take,” said Treliving. “The people that give back in our business and our franchisees across the country, they’re all in this program. Everybody’s in, nobody is out.”

Treliving said he’s heading back to film Season 10 of Dragon’s Den for the 2015-2016 season.

“We have two new ladies coming on this year, the third one is the guy in the fashion business – Joe Fresh,” said Treliving. “We’ve got a prairie lady that’s on from Calgary.”

And if you have any ideas and are coming from the prairies to visit the set of Dragon’s Den Treliving welcomes you but he has one word of advice.

“You don’t go too far without a pitch.”

Boston Pizza in Prince Albert was able to raise nearly $23,000 from the Valentine’s charity this year, in partnership with the Spay-getti and No Balls campaign from the Prince Albert SPCA.

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim

by James Bowler

No flames, plenty of handshakes as dragon visits P.A.

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