by Nancy Gardiner
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 17/97) - Grandma Lee's is open for business once again. It re-opened last Thursday.

Two managers from Edmonton are in Yellowknife overseeing the start-up, and one, Pat Phelan, will remain on for a couple of months. A new manager, Yellowknife's Joe Holzer, has been hired.

"The previous franchise owners walked," said Larry Tennant, vice-president of operations for the Grandma Lee's chain, which is based in Edmonton. He would not comment on why they left but said that when the restaurant was run by the corporation from 1995 to 1996, there were no problems.

The previous franchise owners were Gail and Louis Leonardis. At the time the restaurant closed a few weeks ago, Gail said it was mainly due to a shortage of staff.

"We plan to have it corporate-run again," Tennant said. The restaurant will be operated six days a week, he added.

There are about nine staff members now, with five of them full-time and the others part-time.

The previous owners had the business for about the last 14 months.

There are 28 Grandma Lee restaurants in Western Canada. The Yellowknife franchise first opened in the fall of 1993, says Tennant.