Coalition of Franchisee Associations

August 12, 2013

Nothing to See Here!

Oak Brook  has begun a PR offense to counter revelations about the stress 
McDonald's Operators are experiencing. The two articles mentioned here 
are subscriber sites so I won't post a direct link. If the articles become 
publicly available a link will be posted.

Since it's the industry leader Nation's Restaurant News is always pretty 

nice to McDonald's. This week's article begins:

"Officials from McDonald’s Corp. pushed back against reports of mutiny
among its owner-operators this week after public comments from McDon -
ald’s franchisees revealed ongoing discussions with the franchiser over 
its rent structure, value strategy and remodeling program. An Aug. 6 
article on Bloomberg.com said two groups of California franchisees were
“going rogue” by having meetings, listing grievances and suggesting 
negotiations with McDonald’s to Lee ..."

The Chicago Tribune has done nothing but puff pieces on McDonald's for
the past three years so this interview with Jeff Stratton is probably kind of 
fanciful. He's officially the first executive in McDonald's history described 
as "Burly".

"MEET MCDONALD'S U.S. PRESIDENT
The Chicago Tribune looks at the challenges faced by Jeff Stratton, president of McDonald's USA, as the burger giant faces weak sales growth that has created angst among the chain's 3,100 franchise operators. The burly 57-year- old is intense and confident, but he has yet to create any sales momentum despite a renewed focus on faster service and lower-priced items. "
.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This guy gives me reason for pause.

Let's see, he grew up in the system, only knows the system, no experience outside the system. This guy may be out of touch with reality, and our customers. How is he going to bring genuine fresh ideas to the system? I hope he is more of a risk taker. I really don't want pretzel burger, but MCD could never move as fast as the competitors, as their size has become a liability to the customers, operators and supply.