Coalition of Franchisee Associations

January 2, 2020

Even-Numbered Years Can Be Challenging

Five Anvils Hanging Over Restaurateurs Heads
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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/delta-employees-sue-lands-end-alleging-uniforms-made-them-sick/ar-BBYyVX0?ocid=spartandhp


Based on this, how long will it be before MCD employees start suing too? My crew hate the new gray uniforms and say they are hot, itchy and scratchy. Just the ticket for a shyster attorney!

Richard Adams said...

I don't know about litigation but it seems that the people who designed and source the new McDonald's uniforms think that everyone who works at McDonald's weighs 100 to 150 lbs. and does Peloton two hours a day. There should be an option for crew people who don't want to show off their rolls of flab. Bless their hearts for being well-fed but they don't need uniforms that emphasize their shape.
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Anonymous said...

SPOT ON Richard!

Anonymous said...

Hey NOA - what's the update on addressing discounting? We had all the momentum to eliminate the $1 Drink. Hell, even the Deloitte pricing tool shows competitor soft drink pricing 299% - 399% higher than what our restaurants are giving it away (yes, they are giving it away)

McCafe small is $2.00 - when the local Starbucks is nearing $4.00. Even the small bottled MCCAFE in supermarkets is $3.00 and you get 1oz less and isn't fresh!

Restaurants have DM123 - then OPNAD/COOP ship 20 coupons weekly on the MCD APP, then add 2 for $5 - plus the COOP mailer. Not to mention free fry Fridays, and other giveaways.

Want to know what 2020's real challenge's are? It's the stupidity of duplicity and the complete lack of business sense in managing a profitable business. We hold at $1 drink, while the price of BIG MAC has sored to $5.00. Profitability is then cut with 2 for $5.00 schemes, as a way to bolster DM123 with CORE PRODUCTS!

Richard Adams said...

This isn't the NOA website and no one here speaks for the NOA but weren't all of the above discounts and price points approved by OPNAD?

OPNAD was formed in 1966 during the Presidential administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson. The current McDonald's corporate leadership team had not yet been born.
While everything else in McDonald's USA has changed over the past few years (Co-Ops, regions, etc) OPNAD keeps chugging along like it was part of the franchise agreement.

Owner/Operators might ask themselves a few questions, *Why does OPNAD still exist? *Am I legally obligated to belong to OPNAD? *Why am I sending them my money? *Who really controls OPNAD?

And many more.

Anonymous said...

You're only "legally" obligated to pay OPNAD if you sign the pledge card. Otherwise, you can drop out of OPNAD(as long as you meet the 4% advertising contribution), but be prepared for another career, retirement and/or the Corporation to come down on you like 10,000 suns and even block your entrance to any operator meeting that involves advertising, promotions, etc. I only know one operator in the Dallas Region that got away with it with 3 stores for 12 months before he sold out in the early 90's.

Anonymous said...

To the poster above. Your comments are prescription for disaster if followed

Anonymous said...

Until the VAST MAJORITY of operators join and support the NOA, MCD will continue to try to ignore us. Your real question should be why is the NLFA so inept at addressing this?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately it seems Mark , the NFLA, and company have drank the company kool aid.

Richard Adams said...

"in the early 1990s" - Do you really want to base today's strategies on things that happened nearly thirty years ago?

But that's my point, something like OPNAD should be under constant review and analysis. Does it still work or is it just a holdover from the days of rotary phones?
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Anonymous said...

I love the above comments BUT until we as operators join and support the NOA, the company will continue to ignore US.

Anonymous said...

OPNAD is just window dressing for corporate control from Chicago that they can point to when discounts destroy profits. They say that WE voted for it so shut up and keep doing it.

Besides, why WOULD corporate change anything?! The stock price stays strong! Read some analyst notes and their predictions:that is where you will find the business plan for the next 3years. That a plan that raises stock price at our expense.

Those notes call for deeper discounting, especially to combat Wendy's newest entrance into breakfast, which we should simply ignore. Wendy's has a proven track record of forcing their own failure at breakfast. Yet, the Wall St analysts are all aflutter about how we (not corporate, operators) have to even more deeply discount to keep market share in a money losing race. Why are we going to run that race? Because OPNAD void to set out on Wendy's death march while our other competitors maintain their premium pricing and unit level Profitabilty.

Sell now or join NOA and go to war over the next discount wave. Don't forget the analysts all also calling for major additional "investments" in digital. That means US shelli g out more money for more tech that doesn't work to keep them happy and rating the stock at a buy because we meet their checklists in what makes a successful restaurant.

Of course, no analyst has any restaurant experience. They are also only worried about stock price, and management dances to their tunes like puppets. And we pay.

Anonymous said...

OPNAD is staffed, controlled by the corporation, with weakminded greedy operators who'd sell their mother into prostitution if they thought it would give them another store. Handpicked by the field office and championed thru 'elections' that no one ever sees the tallied results. Sort of like OPNAD field votes, everyone said they hate the idea. However, it always passes

Anonymous said...


I agree that the NFLA needs to be more effective in many areas. Like Ops, Building & Decor, Menu Management, ROIP and many others but, they have nothing to do with OPNAD.

The O/O’s that need to be held responsible have painted us into a box. We need the same uprising to change OPNAD as we did with NLC. One of the problems is that many reps have served more than 2 terms.

THE 2% I SEND TO OpNad is being underspent by at least .50%. The Quality of the ads are poor and the promotions are worse. Give me back my .50% and let me spend it my way or in my local CoOp.

I am Feed up with this we know better Attitude.

Anonymous said...

The NOA needs to communicate better and set a agenda of priorities. Its been a couple years and operators need a priority list. As well, a contingency plan for when those objectives are met or agreed too.

Negotiations are great, but theres 90% of restaurants in operators hands. Time to use that leverage for a WIN / WIN.

Like Richard said, over the years things have changed. Its time to get the operator benefits and participations with those changes too. Enough of the living in fear. OPNAD and COOP cant be used to price fix or approve operator cost.

No single representative should have the power to vote hundreds of thousands of cost on an operator. All field votes need to controlled and monitored by 3rd party, and visible to the entire group.

If NOA isn't monitoring these threads, that's already a signal of a dilemma. If they don't monitor here, they need to create an anonymous (protected) means of gathering operator feedback.

Anonymous said...

Rest assured, the NOA is monitoring these posts. Ive seen it. Many do it.


PROTECT YOUR EQUITY - JOIN the NOA!
Fifty five cents a day is cheap insurance !


MMGA

Anonymous said...

Speaking of NOA feedback, every coop has a NOA Liaison Operator who can run with your feedback. Use them!

Anonymous said...

The company has become expert on bribing Leadership operators to betray their fellow operators, for their own personal gain.

JOIN the NOA