Moncton Wing’n It Days Away From Opening
MONCTON – The woman bringing Wing’n It to Moncton had to become her own general contractor to keep things moving in a bid to bring the Newfoundland chain’s premium wings to the Hub City.
Charlene Michelin is the owner, operator, and now general contractor of the Wing’n It Express franchise coming to Moncton’s Granite Centre – and her efforts are about to pay off.
Michelin told Huddle the plan is now to serve wings in a variety of more than 100 flavours to hungry Monctonians by December 12, “as long as everything continues to go smoothly.”
This marks the second (albeit minor) pushback of the anticipated opening. Michelin had hoped for an October opening and initially predicted she’d be open by the end of the summer – but those hopes were scuttled by labour shortages and delays.
“The last bit of the project has been very overwhelming, but I took it on and I’m pushing to get this finished,” Michelin said, taking a break from the fit-up work to speak to Huddle on December 1.
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The countertop installation is almost complete and a visit from the health inspector is imminent. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are coming together and Michelin noted that her biggest sticking points were an Ontario-based contractor, hired to start working in June, who didn’t set foot in New Brunswick until the fall, and the difficulty they had finding an electrician before the contractor left.
“The electrician was the big holdup but my general contractor was the main issue, getting him here on site and actually doing his work,” she said.
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The general contractor eventually found a local electrician – which allowed for progress to begin on the rest of the work that needed – and needs – to be done at 140 Granite Drive.
However, the general contractor left not long after the electrical work was done – forcing Michelin to improvise and take on the mantle herself at the last minute.
“I was tired of waiting on the subcontractor to do things or get back to me on what’s being done, because I see a lot of things that need to be done,” she said.
“I’ve been in contact with the countertop people, the plumber, the electrician, and the propane guy, trying to get the last-minute stuff done so that we can get our doors open.”
With the help of the franchise, Michelin began subcontracting out the work, making moves on arranging for the countertops, plumbing and propane equipment for the fryers.
“[The general contractor] was subcontracting things out and trying to make little things move, but it was very slow,” Michelin said.
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“It honestly seemed like everything was so spread out. He wasn’t on site to make sure that things were at a good pace – so basically he dropped the ball because he subcontracted out a lot of things he could have done.”
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Once she took over, Michelin took it upon herself to set up décor, put decals on walls and shelves, and carry out general boots-on-the-ground work.
Wing’n It will open in the same berth as Simply For Life and Take It Outside, both of which set up shop earlier this year in a hot, growing hub of retail and commerce near Elmwood Drive, Costco, and the Trans-Canada Highway that has been dubbed “the Dartmouth Crossing of New Brunswick.”
Michelin told Huddle that on top of her general contracting work, she has begun hiring a staff of just short of 20 people.
“I’ve done some interviews this week. I’m going to be calling people tomorrow for hiring,” she said.
Next week, she plans to start training new hires – the point at which she told Huddle her nervousness will turn to excitement.
“This is all new to me, and it’s my baby and I want it to go smoothly. It’s been a long road since June,” she said.
Wing’N It, launched in 2010 in Torbay, Newfoundland – and has a reputation for its unique variety of wings and pub fare with cheeky names that are nods to aviation history.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].
Sasha
December 3, 2022 @ 6:21 am
Leave it to a woman to get things done.