Barry Arndt began his journey with Boston Pizza in 1978 when he submitted a paper proposing a BP restaurant in Fort McMurray ... while in the fourth year of his B.A. degree at the University of Alberta. Upon graduation, Barry was hired as the Marketing Director for Boston Pizza International in the Edmonton Corporate offices, owned by Ron Coyle. At age 28, Barry made the shift from management to franchisee following the sale of the Boston Pizza brand to Jim Treliving and George Melville in 1983. The corporately owned stores were being sold off, and Barry chose to purchase the store in Glenora on 124th Street. Over the following years, the portfolio slowly expanded with acquisitions of BPs in St. Albert, Red Deer, and Inglewood (now Westmount). In the mid '90s over the short span of two years, three new locations were opened in Hinton, Cold Lake, and Cochrane. Terwillegar BP in Edmonton opened in 2000 and brought the portfolio total to eight: Glenora, Terwillegar, Hinton, Cold Lake, Cochrane, Westmount, and Red Deer North & South. With the commitment of Barry’s son Dan Arndt (CEO) and Tami Reich (CFO), the ZZA Hospitality Group was created in 2012. This formalized business model brought a clearer vision, passion, and desire to expand the existing Boston Pizza portfolio. More locations were soon acquired in High Level, Edson, Canmore, Gas Alley, Calgary, and Airdrie bringing the current total of ZZA Hospitality Group BP franchises to 13. read more