It’s been three and half years since Pierre Jacoub and Pierre Marois became owner/operators of five McDonalds’ restaurants on Nova Scotia’s South Shore.
Becoming restaurant owners was a complete career change for both Marois, who previously worked as an IT project manager and Jacoub who worked in engineering.
“We wanted to define our own space better and work for ourselves, so we went straight for the best,” said Marois.
Partners in business and in life, “it was pretty much an instant yes” when the opportunity arose to relocate to the South Shore.
“When you are accepted (by McDonalds) as a registered applicant you go through extensive training,” said Jacoub.
After two and half years and 1,500 hours of training through the entire process of restaurant management, the time had come to select where they wanted to operate their business.
After visiting the South Shore, it was an easy decision. “The South Shore is the most beautiful place in Nova Scotia, said Marois. ’s a great place to do business and a great place to raise a family.”
Relocating from Montreal to Yarmouth, the pair hasn’t looked back. “We live in a place where there are so many beautiful beaches. We have two young children so to have a beach within 10 minutes of home is a pretty great thing,” said Marois.
Not to mention the difference in the winters. “It’s a beautiful winter if we compare our winters with up in Montreal. This is a definitely a plus for us,” said Jacoub.
Marois said first and foremost the couple’s two young children “keep our downtime pretty busy and enjoyable”, whether at home or the beach or other outdoor activities such as cycling and hiking.
“Between McDonalds and our children that keeps us pretty busy and serving our community is pretty much a privilege,” said Marois. “We’re very passionate about our brand, our employees and the communities we do business in and to reuse that old phrase, when you love what you do you never work a day in your life. It feels like that for us.”
The two Pierres are owner/operators of McDonalds Restaurants in Bridgewater, Liverpool, Barrington Passage and Yarmouth. The fifth restaurant, located at Wal-Mart in Bridgewater is currently closed.
“We live in Yarmouth and love to travel between here and Bridgewater and everywhere in between,” said Marois. “We are very lucky have a great management team in our restaurants. That makes it easy for us to be more involved in each one of the communities we serve. The strength of our team frees us up to focus on goals in the community.”
