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Can you remember this? Georgie Pie - Georgie Pie was a fast food chain owned by retailer Progressive Enterprises specialising in meat pies that hoped to be "New Zealand’s own homegrown alternative to the global fast-food industry giants such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King". The first Georgie Pie restaurant opened in 1977, and at its peak there were 32 restaurants across New Zealand. After running into financial difficulties, it was bought out by McDonald's in 1996, mainly for its restaurant locations. The last Georgie Pie store was closed in 1998. - Large pies at Georgie Pie came in a range of traditional (mince and cheese/steak and kidney) and international (Chinese/Mexican/Italian) flavours. In 2013, following frequent calls for the brand's return, McDonald's reintroduced Georgie Pie through its restaurants. However, there are no plans to open dedicated Georgie Pie stores. - Georgie Pie was the brainchild of Tom Ah Chee, who opened New Zealand's first supermarket (Foodtown Otahuhu, 1958). The first restaurant was opened in Kelston, Auckland in 1977. In 1994, plans were announced to open 25 new outlets per year, with a goal of 114 operating restaurants by the end of 1998. The chain came to prominence in the early 1990s with its $1, $2, $3, and $4 "Funtastic Value" menu. At its peak, the chain employed about 1,300 people. Georgie Pie was able to automate the food production process far more than chains which sold labour-intensive items such as burgers. Timing was a more difficult detail, for Georgie Pie, as it took 22 minutes to bake a pie versus a few minutes for typical fast food. - Following the decision not to continue expansion of the brand, inquiries (by members of the Georgie Pie management team and other outside interested parties) into buying the brand were declined. Progressive Enterprises sold the food chain to McDonald's in 1996, who mainly bought the chain for its property, which included high-profile sites such as the corner of Great South Road and Green Lane East in Auckland. It also gave McDonald's a leg-up over arch-rival Burger King, who entered the New Zealand market in 1994 and were also actively interested in purchasing the Georgie Pie chain. At the conclusion of the deal, 17 outlets were converted into McDonald's restaurants. The other fifteen were sold, some to other fast food franchises or restaurants, one to a Bunnings Warehouse and one to a blood bank. The last Georgie Pie was located at Kepa Road in Auckland's Mission Bay where they ceased operations in 1998. The Foodtown/Countdown house brand "Foodtown" pies, which tasted nearly the same as Georgie Pies, were withdrawn in late 2004. - During the course of its twenty-one years in business, Georgie Pie achieved a number of firsts in New Zealand: first drive-thru and first with breakfast; first 24-hour drive-thru; and the first domestic concept to seriously challenge the international fast food giants. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgie_Pie) (Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4kKjRQgA8w)