Coalition of Franchisee Associations

June 21, 2022

Having Greatness Thrust Upon You

So, a Chicago suit wants McDonald's Owner/Operators to aim to be greater? And he figures if his letter writer pulls up the name of Ray Kroc that McDonald's Owner/Operators will sit up and pay attention.

Well, I can do that too. After all, I actually knew Ray Kroc - Ray Kroc hollered at me.

Mr. Kroc wrote in his first book that when he was growing up his family nicknamed him "Danny Dreamer" because he was always lost in thought.

In several regards, McDonald's Owner/Operators also live in a dream world.

There's the dream world where it's a good idea to spend millions on your landlord's building to infinity and beyond.

There's also the dream world where it's a good idea to keep pouring money into a chasm called OPNAD when the rest of the world knows local control is best in businesses and government.

With that in mind let's look at the four built points sent from the suit.

New Term - Rewrite has always been an inaccurate term. It was used to placate the Operators from the first  MOA. In rewrite meetings of the day, the attorneys in the room would call the deal a "New Term" and the Operations guys would call it a "rewrite".

Separate New Term from Expandability - That's substantially been done over the past few years as the size of the average Operators grows. When a fifteen-store Operator absorbs a ten-store Operator are all of that buying Operator's stores up to date and expandable on their own? Of course not. This just formalizes it. It also gives corporate total control over who buys what stores(s).

 And it means McDonald's USA is trending toward larger and larger Operators.

New Candidates - This can only be seen an effort to separate the Next Gen from the herd. I am blessed with many friends who are retired or nearly retired and who have kids in the McDonald's business You guessed it, there's a constant tug-of-war. The family wants the Next Gen to continue their education in the business. The corporate folks want the Next Gen to simply be an extension of the bureaucracy.

Values - This is where they get you - It only takes three or four sentences to get outside your franchise agreements and control your life from a  woke state of mind where franchisees will march in step with their corporate brethren. To understand this better, scroll down to May 14th where we displayed a circular chart explaining Environmental, Social, and Governance. 

When corporate management teams (execs and directors) get involved with ESG they tend to lose their minds.

Management gets distracted by priorities that have nothing to do with the business welfare and then ignores business threats that are right in front of them. So it will be with ESG.


34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I’m not sure who they will find to run these restaurants….

Anonymous said...

☝️The young who will be happy with 200k per store (until they grow up and wise up )

Anonymous said...

👆 the young who will be happy with 20K... until their bankrupt and CORP either absorbs them, or has 50% ownership

Anonymous said...

https://fb.watch/dQ6F0G6ob3/

Shows the model works without a corporate overlord.

Anonymous said...

NO CONFIDENCE

Anonymous said...



I am not young and I am already at about 200k per store, thanks to being in a high cost and high rent market. What saved me was the PPP money !!

Anonymous said...

someone that has better input than me

MISC things
kind of quote

HOWDEY - this is not RAY KROC’s MCD

JOE - the MCD LEADERS are not in this room

now with this ripoff - they are using RAY’s words like the Bible - the lawyers thought using RAY was good now
they are turning back to RAY now because they have nothing left

the CHICK volume 4M average - 6 days a week

MCD 2,7 M

CHICK no discounts MCD by the 100

Help here

might not get all I ask for

1. how many operators in 1990 - 2000 - 2010 - 2020 - 2022 - not sure this is posable but think lots
of us would like to know - 5 years from now GUESS down 20% from todays number of operators

2. % of MCD stores 14,000 under 2 Million - joke is everyone should have 1 WELL I have 2 out of 6
call them opportunity stores years ago

3. when it gets time for my rewrite or whatever word - I will just let them sell the store to one of these
new people

4.. who are these voices from heaven that will decide who gets a store
people like STEVE E who was fired STRONG who is being sued my 2 ladies for using he N word?
they do not even know us & will decide on our future based on a calculator or a spread sheet
How do they know who is working the store & who might be golfing

5. is there an update on the 50 black operators that are suing MCD?
Who will pay for that mess?

lawsuit in CAL - FL for millions of dollars - other suits - and they are going to decide who gets a
restaurant

I wish RAY & FRED were still here - none of this SHIT would be happening

most of these people would not be a person in the office answering the phone & I am sorry to
these phone people because they would be better than these IDIOTS

I am going to stop 🛑 because I am getting PISSED OFF

HOPE I CAN MAKE IT 2 MORE YEARS

GOD HELP MCD - we are in major trouble

PS - not talking about hiring & PACE because I will put words in that RICHARD would delete



Anonymous said...

OPNAD seems to be our only retaliation....

Richard Adams said...

Got that right.
.

Richard Adams said...

"when it gets time for my rewrite or whatever word - I will just let them sell the store to one of these new people"

Why not try to sell stores on the open market - you'll never get full price with corporate running the deal. In retirement, every little bit counts.
.

Anonymous said...

HERE IS THE QUESTION. IF THE NFLA/NOA/BMOA/WON CAVE ON THIS WE LOSE BIG. BUT I FEAR OUR OWNER GROUPS ARE FECKLESS AND IMPOTENT. IF SO WE LOSE. MCD WINS.

Anonymous said...

MCD HAS DECLARED WAR. Will we fight or cower?? Are you listening Mark, Blake and Larry???

Anonymous said...

The NFLA is a bunch of appeasers. The company has not listened to them for years. If the NOA will not fight this, they can kiss my 30 stores GOODBYE

Anonymous said...

Thought 2 of the principals we were to
stand for were integrity & being a good
neighbor

0n 6/23 MCD Europe is accused of
Tax evasion

Check out
lesson for MCD
beware the tax whistle blower union

this is special - will anyone lose their
job over this?

on this new franchise crap

will we know the names of these suits
& dresses along with their training &
degrees that they were given?

if it pays enough I would sell my stores
& do that - ANONYMOUS - Week ends
off - holidays off - 8 weeks vacation
free food - retirement - car - stock
options - not work the last two
weeks of the year like everyone in
the Chicago office - that would be
a cool job - I am good at throwing darts
to a Y or N target - good at ROCK
PAPER - SCISSORS -
PS - I would prefer to do this from
home in my under pants drinking
a beer - why drive all the way in
Chicago - pay the tolls - parking -
waste all that gas

need to know how to apply RICHARD

one small issue / I am a white male
that is over 70 years old / probably
will not pass the smell text / not
diverse enough / just dreaming 😀😀

Anonymous said...

Thought 2 of the principals we were to
stand for were integrity & being a good
neighbor

0n 6/23 MCD Europe is accused of
Tax evasion

Check out
lesson for MCD
beware the tax whistle blower union

this is special - will anyone lose their
job over this?

on this new franchise crap

will we know the names of these suits
& dresses along with their training &
degrees that they were given?

if it pays enough I would sell my stores
& do that - ANONYMOUS - Week ends
off - holidays off - 8 weeks vacation
free food - retirement - car - stock
options - not work the last two
weeks of the year like everyone in
the Chicago office - that would be
a cool job - I am good at throwing darts
to a Y or N target - good at ROCK
PAPER - SCISSORS -
PS - I would prefer to do this from
home in my under pants drinking
a beer - why drive all the way in
Chicago - pay the tolls - parking -
waste all that gas

need to know how to apply RICHARD

one small issue / I am a white male
that is over 70 years old / probably
will not pass the smell text / not
diverse enough / just dreaming 😀😀

Anonymous said...

🤞đŸģI’m a younger operator, but I absolutely love your comments! Remove “JEcK” joe e. and Chris k.

Anonymous said...

We are witnessing the beginning of the end of our system.

Anonymous said...


A single word can describe the reason that McD is “shaking up” their Franchise Base! In a Franchise Dependent System, The Franchisor is not able to dictate some things to the Folks who have invested their Family’s Time and Treasure, to building and operating a business model that after all demands bales of Dollars, Buckets of sweat, and many times many tears!

The business, any Restaurant business, demands constant and in-depth ability and passion! Looking to telegraph virtue is not the goal of the Franchisees: It absolutely is the one of the keys of present day large American Corporations! McD is certainly a large corporations focused upon being WOKE. Seldom has the world seen a corporation as Successful as McD. The future will most likely not be as bright for McD. Even new Franchisees, if McD goes to the mat with this, will ruin their current very successful Franchise Community !

With California looking to attack the Franchise Model , McD must be Preparing to preempt the Socialists who have their sights on being able to destroy the concept of Franchising Virtue signaling (WOKEness) , as McD is now focused upon, is actually a colossal waste of time and money, not worth the acrimony that Corporate McD is sowing among their current base of franchisees!

Anonymous said...

I’m convinced McDonald’s corp hates operators. For various reasons. But ironically they are not pro business owners. Robert Gibbs was the lesson for me.

Anonymous said...

Great comments

I would ask like a previous person - WHO WILL BE CONTROLLING OUR LIVES

do we have more or less than 1,500 operators - I do remember years ago we had well over 2,000

Not judging anyone - just a comment - but when I started 40 some years ago - operators had 2-3-4 restaurants
Now seems MCD prefers to 60 - 70 or more. - Just my opinion - not trying to upset anyone or judge your
work style

UNLIKE MCD WHO SEEMS LIKE THATS WHAT THEY WANT TO DO

PS - like many of you if not for the PPP I would be gone

I have 5 stores
3 years ago we had 300 TEAM MEMBERS

today 180

I am hiring at 16.00

this PACE stuff

2 in the 1’s

2 in the 2’s

1. in the 3’s

Several MGRS are taking this personal & I am talking with them about quitting

4th of July in 2 weeks & I am talking to 4 MGT team members about quitting

GOD HELP US

Anonymous said...

Not all, but a LOT of this is about trying to break the back of the NOA.

It tells you that corporate fears the NOA and that NOA has the playbook that other CFA members used to break their franchisor management teams when they were publicly traded. MCD needed a plan to retaliate against its own franchise owners and decided that using the woke agenda is the ticket. When NOA leaders complaint act they are being targeted with retaliation for exercising their free speech rights and trying to protect their family business, they will be called racists by empty suits.

To the owner that threatened pull out of NOA, you are completely wrong. You need to be ALL IN on NOA. It really is your only hope not to have your business stolen from you and have yourself canceled as a racist by a bunch of corrupt, incompetent corporate puppets. If you trash NOA, I'm afraid that you might actually deserve it. Don't be that guy. Stand together with your fellow franchisee association brothers and sisters and win.

Anonymous said...

100% agree with supporting the NOA.

Also, on a different “values” note. I really hope that McDonald’s stays out of this Roe v Wade stuff…. Too many woke companies already saying they will pay for travel etc. please please please Corp. don’t get involved with this. It has the potential to hurt our local business.

Anonymous said...

The SLT doesn't want legacy operators, legacy families, they want high turnover in the Operator ranks, outsiders who will struggle to pay debt and would do anything to grow. Yes men. Henchmen. The SLT effectively cut the legs out from next gen candidates by taking their equity away. This SLT has to go. They don't care about what made this Brand, they seem to think Operator experience and wealth are threats to their current agendas instead of brand building assests that we are. The SLT MUST GO! They will try and say the right thing, but their actions are so loud that I can't hear them. All operators should be concerned about their futures with these current leaders. Until they change, we are all in trouble. They will keep pushing until we act. Its Time for Unity, Time For Action.

Anonymous said...

Agree with the thought above; they hate the NOA, can’t even bring themselves to say it and it’s because the NOA has teeth even if other O/O leadership groups do not and I believe that they DO. The people I know personally on NFLA are not afraid of the company or their shit and they say what is on their minds. Ultimately it comes down to a bunch of things that are wrong:

-Youth and inexperience make stupid avoidable decisions, count no store level experience as “inexperience”. At NOA about four years ago we heard from Larry Light who clearly gets it, “Love the customers that you have.” He clearly articulated many of the mistakes made in recent years and clearly none of those who needed to understand and adapt heard or accepted his premise.
-Like President Trump has said, “Everything woke goes to shit.” He is 100% right.
-New confusing advertising/discount programs- we’ve never had an app before therefore we are left listening to, again, a bunch of young and inexperienced employees with zero to lose (no responsibility for) their decisions. To be fair, it is one thing to make a bunch of mistakes and another to have misaligned endgames or misaligned intentions. Theirs is and apparently will always be to run the stock price up and this is VERY short term thinking. They don’t give two shits whether we make money or not, never will regardless of what they say and the app is clearly a driver and a drain. If we are truly “in this together” as they say why don’t they shoulder half of the burden every damn time we discount anything? Answer- because either we don’t ask/demand or we don’t know to ask/demand however we now all know so it’s time to do something, to learn from mistakes. Their end is not a mistake, it’s a win. Our end is the mistake and needs to be rectified/righted.
-Who really believes that fewer owners having more stores is truly a winning combination? (That’s the REAL problem; a flawed and self-serving premise and business model. They are correcting their own stupid idea with more stupid ideas.)

In the end the system has thrived when there is leadership with aligned motives. Until a true visionary comes along who isn’t worried about the next quarter’s earnings call, who decides that the company is going to align itself with O/O success, we will always have the constant push/pull and the company has historically won these battles. They’re like the D party who never gives an inch and never stops pushing, comes at it from all angles, is patient if necessary and if they can’t beat you fairly they’ll play dirty. We might have to get dirty to make them understand that they are powerless without our consent. That’s why the NOA is so powerful and so necessary.

As soon as I read Joe’s announcement, I knew exactly where it came from, it’s the same guy who trotted out franchising about 10yrs ago and declared that we are a “McTeam” and “operators” (who in their eyes are nothing more than glorified Uber drivers) are expendable. I clearly remember the quote, “Statistically you have a better chance of becoming a NFL player than becoming an approved operator.” The subtext was, “you’re lucky to be here and you’ll do as you are told” and that’s exactly what they did for 3-4yrs- they ran out everyone that they didn’t like and I’m convinced that some of what they did was illegal.

Thank God for the NOA. It’s time to start warming up that “stick that we hope to never use.”

Richard Adams said...

"on a different “values” note. I really hope that McDonald’s stays out of this Roe v Wade stuff"

If they are even a little bit smart they will stay out. Since they'd be talking about the corporation's benefits there would be no reason to announce any kind of policy since "birthing persons" would have little reason to leave Illinois for an abortion.
If they were to make any kind of announcement it would be simply because they wanted atta-boys from their liberal peer group.
It will be a bad sign if MCD corp. makes any kind of announcement.
.

Anonymous said...

Recently some of the “leadership operators” (20+ store o/o) in my BU said publicly they didn’t think we needed the NOA! I could have vomited. I respected these guys until that moment. Shocked and sickened!

Anonymous said...

THINK most all agree - - this is the new MCD - - some collage kid talked about when he was hired


cannot say much to the above - been said in different ways & I really cannot add anything to the
conversation other than 2 thoughts

There are a lot of operators that think like me / us - - this is one of the best sharing of feelings that I
have seen in quite awhile - - this is from your heart & it’s sad that this GREAT company that RAY - FRED
and the pioneers built in the 50’s & 60’s is at the state we are today

2nd thought / at least for me / I am in VEGAS /// ALL IN WITH A FEW MILLION DOLLARS PLAYING “21”
I have “16” /// the HOUSE - MCD has “20”. There are two outcomes (3 could be a tie at 20). My life
is on the card that this HODDY DOOODY is ready to turn over. it gets worse like VEGAS he does not
care that I lose because another SUCKER will take my spot when I lose & another after that & another &
another & another & another ………. The HOUSE has the cards & just keeps making money fist over fist

PS it’s 8:30 on a SAT night on the East coast I am going to bed thinking about the rest of my MCD future
will look like

GOOD NIGHT !!!!!! 😴😴😴 if I can fall asleep

HELP ME LORD



Anonymous said...

They dont need the NOA because they consider themself McOpCo managers anyways.

Anonymous said...


so we spend 1.3-1.4 billion to settle disputes for corporate miscues and both chief accounting people get promoted????

Anonymous said...

If the NFLA thought a pause was necessary for disputed past tech fees, what will they do for these new standards designed to take restaurants away? Time to break out that big stick.

Anonymous said...

RICHARD

hate to go on to a different topic but can you or someone on this
link give a summary what GHOST KITCHENS are & is MCD
moving forward with them?

is this the future of FAST FOOD?


THX in advance for your time

Richard Adams said...

IMHO a lot of executive teams and experts made some bad assumptions during the pandemic. They thought consumers would continue to pay delivery premiums and put up with reduced quality long after the pandemic. A year ago the trade pubs were full of articles about "ghost kitchen" concepts. Today those articles have been replaced by features on unique drive-thru concepts.
If someone had figured out a way to offer QSR value more delivery programs might have worked. But if you add premium prices along with delivery fees and gratuities QSR deliveries make little sense, unless you're locked in the house by government mandate.

As for McDonald's, while there might be some experiments here and there the argument against a huge national delivery success is the same argument that management used FOR McDelivery in the first place. They claimed that the penetration of McDonald's locations made McDelivery efficient and a natural outreach.
Conversely, the fact that there's a McDonald's a few minutes down the street makes it easy for the consumer to avoid the extra expenses, the wait, and the reduced quality by just jumping in the car and going to get the food. Just like our forebears.
So while ghost kitchens will make sense in a few cities and locations they rarely make sense for the operator or the customer and are not the future of the industry.
.

Anonymous said...


Hi Mr Adams and others
For three years straight McDonald's Corporation has declared war on the Owner Operators. Chris K is worse than Putin, seems he wins all the battles. His little General Joe E is just like Hitler's SS. The Owner Operators, next Gens and corporate staff just sit and complain and out of fear of not getting the next restaurant, do nothing to fight back. The funding for NFLA that was voted in this year at $75 per restaurant, seems to be another joke on us. If we voted to support attorneys and accountants stop the B.S. and hire some evil ones to help fight the SET. If NFLA and NOA and OPNAD continue to just sit and take the scraps the company may share, this wonderful system will fail. Chris K and his jackals will be leaving with their golden parachutes while we will have our community struggling to make ends meet. Stop all the BS we are being told to do. Stop $1 Beverage, Stop Brand Standards Visits, stop the BS service games that just allow the company more information to attack Owner Operators......Instead of pausing....Hit the stop button and say no!!!!

Anonymous said...

No confidence