After spending three years studying accounting at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Gagandeep Ghuman thought opening a business in Moose Jaw would be a positive way to give back to the community.
Ghuman and his brother, Manjinder Singh, decided they would start up two businesses within a month of each other: a construction company and a restaurant that focused on selling big, thick, juicy wings.
It is the restaurant in which Ghuman has the most interest, as he helped bring a Big Wing’s franchise to The Friendly City. The company opened on Sept. 23 and was packed the first evening.
Since business is Ghuman’s passion, he thought it was great to put his knowledge into action after reading in textbooks how to run a company, he said. He acquired additional hands-on experience about running a business after training for four months at a Big Wing’s restaurant in Prince Albert.
Ghuman and his team spent three months building up the restaurant, including designing and remodelling the interior themselves and hanging their own sign.
He highlighted the fact his restaurant is focused mainly on selling wings. Moreover, the 125 sauces they offer — including some special recipes and gluten-free options — are homemade.
The community has been excited for Big Wing’s to open, said Ghuman. When he posted the news online that his restaurant would open — it was originally going to be in August — he had 15,000 people comment in one day.
“That’s huge in a small town,” he remarked, adding the 113 phone calls he received were also positive motivation.
Interested customers in Regina also urged him repeatedly to open a franchise in the Queen City.
Most restaurants or bars that sell wings charge an average of $1.51 per wing, but Big Wing’s sells its juicy morsels for $1 per piece, said Ghuman. This means they sell 10 wings for $10 or five wings for $5.
Furthermore, they sell desserts — specifically, edible cookie dough of various kinds, including deep-fried cookie dough, deep-fried Oreo, birthday cake, and Skor — in mason jars for $5 or $10.
“The next big thing is we will deliver liquor to homes,” he continued, adding with a chuckle, “so no drinking and driving in Moose Jaw.”
Big Wing’s plans to offer free delivery until 1 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends. Conversely, customers can make reservations if they want to come for lunch or supper with a group, or if they want to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays. The business will even decorate the interior and supply a cake.
The business will hold Wednesday wings nights, provide lunch specials, and even offer buy-one, get-one half-off deals. Since the restaurant has four TVs, Ghuman plans to organize games nights regularly. He joked that those nights would feature beer and wings since that’s what Canadians like.
Visit the Facebook page or the website of Big Wing’s Moose Jaw for more information about what it offers and its hours of operations.
