The final days of McDonald's?

Here in Albuquerque, an investor bought out the local Wendy's franchisee. He's subsequently torn every store down and rebuilt them to include a fireplace with comfy chairs, stool-and-bar set ups, as well as booths and regular tables. The place looks more like a Starbucks or Peets than it does a McD's.

Your order is ready in about 60 seconds, you pour your own soda (as much as you want) and they always have an employee roaming around the dining room, cleaning, getting you refills, offering up ketchup and the like. The hamburgers and salads and especially the fries are the best among major fast food joints...so all in all, it's a good experience now.

McD's can learn from Wendy's in ABQ.

Updated: Wendy's getting new look

 

I'm just remembering a story from a year or so ago but it was about McDonald's domination. Their annual breakfast revenue was more than what Taco Bell generated in a year.

Something like one of every five Americans, if they had breakfast, they had it at McDonald's. If you took just lunch and breakfast, they would still have had more revenue than their competition.

The point of the article was that maybe they should dial back the dinner operations, if not outright close and only be open for breakfast and lunch.

 

As a man who once ate at McDonald's five or six times a week before losing a lot of weight (I once ate three meals in one day at a McDonald's and one time ate at a McDonald's twice in a two-hour time period), I went about two years without eating there. A few months ago I decided to eat there. It was a Saturday (my diet cheat day) and I was on the road. I tried to eat a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a small container of fries. I couldn't get it down. When you actually chew it slowly and try to taste it, it's just not good. It tastes good only if you scarf it down. The salt and fat are incredible if you eat it fast. Chew it and REALLY taste the stuff they're serving and it's horrible in texture and flavor.

I cheat on my diet with all sorts of fatty, salty, terrible things for me on weekends. Most of them taste terrific. It's worth having to run a few extra miles the rest of the week to work off. McDonald's is not one of those worthy food mistresses.

 

I also wonder if McDonald's got lazy during the recession. Remember those stories about it just outright dominating the fast food market in like 2008 and 2009 and Burger King and Wendy's seemingly on life support? Wonder if McDonald's felt like it had reached the mountain top — total fast food domination — and didn't keep innovating?

I know McDonald's didn't know what it was doing with Chipotle, but that has to burn like a mother. To see what it's doing now and to have had it under your own umbrella? That has to sting.

I think McDonald's survives, for many of the reasons others have said, but I do think they'll have to pare down the menu and cut locations.

I don't eat much fast food anymore, but for some reason I'm fascinated by its inner workings and turf wars more than almost any other business stories. I love books written about fast food. It's weird.

 

We're fascinated about fast food because, in many parts of the world, that IS America. Along with "Hollywood," fast-food franchises are our No. 1 export, and how most people around the globe view the USA.

If memory serves, McD's is doing pretty well overseas, but its U.S. stores are suffering financial woe.

Personally, I eat at McDonald's about once a year — only when I'm traveling. It's not healthy and there's better-tasting options.

 

McDonald's Corp.

OK, I'll waste my time showing someone else's work. You sort of have to do that to people around here...

This says their sales have increased by $400,000,000 from 2010 to 2014. Fuck, that's financial ruin.

http://www.franchisechatter.com/201...s-and-other-important-stuff-you-need-to-know/

Chick-Fil-A has $6 billion in sales. McD's has 27.7 billion.

I don't think Ronald is imploding anytime soon.

 

They're bigger than US Steel.

 

Wendy's revenue hit as chain sells restaurants

It looks like Wendy's clocks in around $2.0 billion.

 

So, unless China can make a Big Mac cheaper over there and ship it here, I think it's fine.

I'm not for or against them, but sometimes people turn their brains off when on the internet and forget about what you would do if you wrote or edited the story and had a little bit of time and resource to do it correctly.

 

They've recorded seven straight quarters of declining sales.

 

This is the problem. I loved the idea of all-day breakfast, but it's only the shittiest items. We get the McMuffin, also with sausage, hot cakes and the sausage burrito. The bacon/egg/cheese bagel is my go-to as well, but you can't get it. And it seems the franchisees are more annoyed with the process of all-day breakfast and it slowing down service. But it has gone over well with customers, from what I have heard.