The Menu Creeps

How big can the McDonald's USA menu get?

Many factors contribute to the growth of McDonald's menu. The top two are:

The business news industry: It's boring trying to write about the restaurant industry. The only interesting hot topics are new products.

Wall Street analysts: An analyst's job is to keep track of the activities of certain companies or entire Industries. That means keeping up with new products or concepts, whether it's automobiles, pharmaceuticals, or farm equipment. It's then the analyst's job to translate these changes into EPS projections.

If a restaurant company fails to impress Wall Street with new products, analysts will report that the headquarters lacks "Menu Innovation." New products are as much to impress Wall Street as they are to attract paying customers.

" McDonald's execs believe menu innovation is the key to turning around their sagging sales—so much so that they mentioned it 14 times during their May earnings call. "...There's a steady flow of menu innovation that goes from now through the end of the year in a number of our markets," CEO Chris Kempczinski said. "...Our expectaion is, as we continue to have more menu innovation...it has a positive impact on baseline, which is sort of the gift that keeps on giving."

From: Parade/Yahoo News

Caution: New Stores Ahead

 McDonald's USA to open 900 new stores by the end of 2027

Please note the first comment on this post.

At the Risk of Seeming Picayune, ...

The metaphor "Three-Legged Stool" is typically used to describe a mutually beneficial relationship, a type of quasi-partnership. At least that was the way Fred Turner used the term.

When the demise of the Krispy Kreme partnership was announced, McDonald's Owner/Operators received a memo from some corporate suits explaining the decision-making process. The three-legged stool was mentioned, but in a non-McDonald's way.

From the memo: "McDonald's continues to be guided by the three-legged stool, and if one leg faces significant challenges, it is our shared responsibility to reassess the best path forward."

In other words, one leg of the stool is dominant over the others and will be the ultimate decider on the fate of the other legs. Now we all know that's how the McDonald's system works, but it's disheartening to see a term that has always been a positive used in such a negative way.

The word for this management style is "Bullying".  

Everybody Wants to Buy McDonald's in Israel

It's my guess this article is 95% gossip and/or fabrication, but the last sentence in the following paragraph caught my eye.

"The process of seeking a franchisee is being handled by a local representative on behalf of McDonald’s, who has approached well-known business figures in Israel, in parallel with direct approaches received by McDonald’s Global. Interested parties have signed confidentiality agreements. Among them: Ori Max, owner of Maxstock under Apax Partners; large real-estate and mall groups; and a group of McDonald’s executives who are exploring the formation of a consortium."

Battle for McDonald's franchise in Israel heats up - ynetnews

How to Help Texas Flood Victims

 Salvation Army - Texas

What McDonald's Says About the Economy

McDonald's to hire 375,000 people this summer

That's about 25 employees per store, the spring and summer hiring trend that goes back about 70 years.

However, if McDonald's corporate opens "another 900 U.S. restaurants by 2027" there may be fewer employees per restaurant due to cannibalization.

BK Gives Up On Poor Location - McDonald's Says "We're Next"

When you're in a panic to open hundreds of new stores in a few years to impress shareholders, rehabbing a failed Burger King is quick and easy. 

It won't be about sales volume anymore; it'll be about the number of new stores.

White Castle Follows McDonald's Into Late Night

                             Extended hours - more or less profits?

Speaking of New Stores

In case you missed it, Anonymous recently posted: 'This is a repeat of the 1990s “Convenience Strategy”, Oak Brook fell on their face trying it back then. And that was when the corporation was staffed with experienced, knowledgeable people.'

We seldom comment about McDonald's mid-management people since a) they aren't in those jobs very long, b) I don't know them or what they actually do in their work.

But this lady is interesting in that she was hired to lead the development of new USA stores. She was hired in 2023, at approximately the same time Accelerating the Arches was announced. In other words, she was put in charge of accelerating McDonald's USA growth, despite having no time with the company.

The opposite of experienced and knowledgeable. Of course, she's now had two years to acquire 70 years of site location experience.

Her corporate profile: mcdonalds.com - leadership

Her Linkedin page: linkedin.com/tabassumzalotrawala

Perfection Ahead for McDonald's Technology

McDonald's shuffles technology leadership - NRN