Bubba’s. Smoke’s. Poutine Place. They’re all popular for one thing and they’re all within two blocks of each other in downtown Kingston.

According to Queen’s Business Professor Ken Wong, the newly formed Kingston poutine arena won’t be declaring a clear winner anytime soon. He said that despite the increase in restaurants, the downtown poutine market isn’t necessarily oversaturated.

“You’re not expanding the size of the pie, you’re just slicing it up so that each competitor gets a smaller share,” he said. “It’s a result of market maturity.”

Since this fall’s arrival of Poutine Place and Smoke’s Poutinerie, the battle for local poutine supremacy has seen businesses depend on loyalty, quality and innovative advertising techniques to establish and maintain a costumer-base.

Luckily for the newcomers, Wong said local poutine success isn’t a matter of who came first.

“If you’re the first mover and you have a product that tastes good, odds are you will survive,” he said. “If you’re the first mover and your products are less satisfactory, you won’t.

“Whoever offers the variety first will have an advantage. They will define what poutine is meant to be, and if they are successful, will convince the market of that also.”

With a portion of local poutine consumption dependant on Queen’s students, Wong said the poutine costumer-base is different than most, because loyalty only lasts four years.

“Even though you’ve been around for years, you’re still introducing yourself to each freshmen class,” he said. “You have a category that is really catering to students; not exclusively but largely. There is a constant regeneration of the student market every year.”

Wong said while Bubba’s minimal marketing methods rely on consumer loyalty and word-of-mouth, Smoke’s has taken a different approach all together.

“Guerilla marketing goes beyond just coupons, it really says that we’re going to use a whole different set of media instead of traditional communication devices,” Wong said, in reference to the now-ubiquitous Smoke’s face plastered about campus that rose awareness of the new poutine locale.

“There’s nothing on that sticker that tells me anything about the quality of this product. You’re making the assumption that Queen’s students will be driven into the store by it,” he said.

Getting the word out about Smoke’s opening in Kingston was a matter of targeting the main audience of students under age 25, Smoke’s Poutinerie’s Division St. franchise owner Andrew Kingston said.

“It was a long time coming for a new player to be around,” he said. “We’re proud to say that we’re here and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.” Kingston said the peak days for Smoke’s are Thursday through Saturday, when the Poutinerie experiences a high concentration of customers between 12:30 a.m. and 3 a.m.

“Where there’s students and where there’s bars, that’s where a large volume of business can come our way.”

The reasoning behind Smoke’s expansion to Kingston is the city’s eastern orientation, close to the dish’s Quebec origin. Kingston said Queen’s was the deal-maker.

“Universities are the hottest market in Canada,” he said. “It’s a perfect storm with bars, students and the downtown hub.

“With Bubba’s being there we knew poutine was already established as a stronghold so we chose to come in as well.”

Despite Smoke’s presence downtown, Bubba’s Pizzeria manager Tina Doulas said it hasn’t had any affect on their sales.

“My sales are the same as they were last year and maybe a bit up”, she said. “I get a lot of people who have gone there and come back to mine. It’s people’s preference what they want to eat.” Bubba’s Pizzeria has had its location on Princess St. for 17 years.

“A lot of people know Bubba’s,” Doulas said. “The name says it all.” She said Bubba’s poutine sales are propped up by the bars surrounding the Princess St. location.

“Everybody goes out drinking and they want to eat something to fill themselves up,” she said, adding her poutine sales peak on Friday and Saturday nights.

“The customers that come in between midnight and 2:30 a.m.”

Doulas said Bubba’s hasn’t employed new marketing techniques despite new competitors in the area.

“Well, if you like something, you’re going to go back to what you like,” she said.

The newest player in Kingston’s poutine market, Poutine Place, targeted marketing toward Queen’s students by using local magazines and flyers on campus.

Dimitrios Kotsovolos, owner of Poutine Place, said the restaurant also attracts student crowds after last call.

“After midnight we probably serve 100 to 200 people on a busier night like Friday or Saturday,” Kotsovolos said.

Luckily, these inebriated patrons haven’t caused trouble since the restaurant’s opening three months ago.

“I’m almost surprised, you know how people get late at night,” Kotsovolos said, adding that his peak weekend hours are between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.