Nando's 'desperate' to open Launceston store, franchisee confirms

Raz Haroon and Tim Archer, who own the state's two outlets in North Hobart and Rosny and have franchise rights for the state, have been looking to enter Launceston for the past decade.

A suitable site for the Portuguese chicken chain has not yet become available, but Mr Haroon says it's not for the lack of trying, and assured Launcestonians a store is definitely in the works.

"Tasmanians love Nando's and we want to bring Nando's to the entire state," Mr Haroon said.

"We're looking daily. When we do lock in the right site we will be moving as quickly as we can.

"We're desperate to enter Launceston and we do want to open a store up there."

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Mr Haroon has explored a number of sites in Launceston - including tenancies in the mall and the former Gloria Jeans cafe - but believes Nando's needs high traffic exposure to cater for its 11am-10pm opening hours.

In late 2021, development plans put before City of Launceston council detailed a "proposed Nando's" on the corner of Wellington and Canning streets.

The 1200 square metre site was part of a bigger land parcel owned by Nico Holdings, which is run by Launceston's McDonald's franchisee Steven Nicholas.

Mr Haroon confirmed he was "super keen" on opening at the site and was awaiting further information from Nico Holdings.

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An impending upgrade to the neighbouring Wellington Street Coles is understood to have held up development plans for the site, and will likely impact what kind of development goes ahead.

"It's sitting in limbo but we are super excited about the potential development to this site," Mr Haroon said.

"For Nando's to be a good site we need very good evening traffic and Launceston doesn't have anything like a Nando's North Hobart on Elizabeth Street - a food precinct or district.

"Wellington Street is good because you've got the flow of traffic all around."

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Early plans for a Nando's at the site included a drive-through facility, however, Mr Haroon said this was no longer being explored.

He said it would take 12 to 18 months to set up a store once a site was secured.

"For us a corner spot is ideal with parking," he said.

"We're not going to entertain a drive-through for Launny at this stage, but [we want to] build a super sized restaurant to cater for Launceston.

"For us the priority is getting a site up there for now, and a corner site with lots of exposure is what we're looking for."

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