19 States to Boost Minimum Wage in 2026

 With the new year comes a round of wage increases.

McDonald's Locks Dining Room for Safety

I attended high school at the former West High in Uptown Minneapolis, about three blocks from the current McDonald's location. It was a calm, walkable neighborhood back then. Also suitable for drag racing up and down Lake Street.

Uptown Minneapolis McDonald's locks doors to keep out crime

Maze on NOA and McPrices

McDonald's makes big change to franchise relationship

In my humble opinion, the NOA's proactive stance on this issue is a collective decision equal to your first meeting in Tampa.

Babylon Bee Awards Funniest Webposting of 2025

McDonald's CEO delivers blunt career advice

Will McDonald's Succeed Where BK Fails?

In July, we discussed a new McDonald's location in Virginia that is a failed Burger King. Now we find another one near Dayton, Ohio. A commercial real estate broker talks naive BK people into sites, and now a different broker (?) talks naive MCD execs into the same sites.

New McDonald's could open at Beavercreek - Dayton Daily News

As we discussed in July

Slowly But Surely - Here They Come

 In-N-Out announces expansion - MSN

McDonald's Netherlands Pulls Anti-Christmas Ad

While much of the press coverage has focused on using AI to produce commercials, the real issue is that McDonald's Corporate can allow the production and distribution of a commercial that could be offensive to millions of people around the globe.

The Guardian: McDonald's removes AI-generated ad after backlash

Or does McDonald's Corp want to be involved in this kind of thing?

Anti-Christian attacks surge across Europe - Fox News

Christmas at McDonald's Under PJB

Most advertising people are counter-culture and, as such, many are anti-religion, but I never thought it would show up in a McDonald's TV commercial.

Bleak McDonald's ad declares Christmas "Terrible"

Maze and McDonald's Strange Year

Monday was spent discussing "price fixing". That's not a term franchisees should toss around. I spent some time fiddling with other ways to describe what's going on in McDonald's, using terms like "price dictation." Better, but not adequate. Leave it to our favorite wordsmith, Jonathan Maze, to find the right word. He used "Oversight". Of course, as a journalist, he can't accuse anyone of price fixing, so he needed another term. "Price Fixing" implies that you are accusing someone of unlawful behavior and that you might be considering legal action. That makes communication difficult.

"Pricing Oversight" means all parties are studying the issue without making 

accusations. Franchisees can always use the term "Price Fixing" later.

The story of McDonald's strange year - in two parts

Cannibalization in the New Year

 'Tis the time of year that business managers and owners tighten up their sales projections for the approaching new year.

For most retail and restaurants, this means looking back on the year ending period by period, reflecting on advertising, promotions, what worked and what didn't, and of course, the weather. All this might tell them something about the future.

But McDonald's Owners have a more difficult task as 2025 ends, due to a vast unknown - the potential damage caused by new McDonald's stores.

No one knows how many new USA stores might be opened in 2026. A few hundred might make sense. Any number nearing 1,000 would be insanity.

The smaller number would only impact a limited number of existing stores. A larger number would eliminate any hope of positive same-store sales nationally in 2026 and beyond. And we know who pays the price when same-store sales are soft.

When I say no one knows how many new stores will be opened, I mean NO ONE. The corporation lacks the systemic memory needed to locate and open worthwhile restaurants. As Anonymous disclosed, they are relying on commercial real estate brokers who have no skin in the game (except for their commission). Local governments have gotten tougher than ever, especially on drive-thrus. They don't seem to mind when a brand is adding a new outlet to restaurant row, but when a new restaurant is proposed in virgin territory, the locals turn out with pitchforks. 

So when PJB and his crew can say they are going to build new at Main St and Main Ave., they are going to get a lot of surprises. Some nearby Owner/Operators will be disappointed, some will be thrilled that they might not be impacted.

That's why 2026 projections are difficult. No one knows how many new stores will open in the next few years, regardless of what PJB told President Trump at their recent meeting. Neither of them knows anything about locating new McDonald's stores.

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