A Hurricane Helene Donation Opportunity

Samaritan's Purse, lead by Franklin Graham

MCD Shares Break Records

Back in June, we discussed, with some alarm, that McDonald's share price had drifted down to the mid-$200 range.

Is anyone watching the MCD stock price? - 6/18/24

We should now recognize that the MCD share price has finally topped $300 over the past week, driven by market momentum and an announced increase in the MCD dividend.

However, in the longer term, the increase comes from investors' confidence that McDonald's Owner/Operators will continue to follow corporate discounting plans.

Congratulations to MCD shareholders.

MCD Insider Sales (Nobody's Buying?)

NYSE: MCD stock report - Yahoo Finance

http://www.fegroupblog.com/2024/06/mcd-ytd-2024.html

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/mcdonalds-reveals-more-details-its-bigger-burger

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-increases-dividend-6-reward-124400887.html

This is a Very Bad Idea!

President Donald Trump has a lot of good ideas - this isn't one of them.

Trump wants to work a shift at McDonald's - Newsweek

Reviewing "Best Practices for Owner/Operators navigating election season" Operators are told "As a company we do not support just one candidate or one political party. We support policies that advance the business interests of our organization and enable our license to operate".

Much of this manual is heavy-handed, but this portion is good strategy. Nothing like this could be conducted properly or constructively. It's one thing for Trump to pop into a Chick-fil-A and buy everyone lunch, but that's not an event sponsored by Chick-fil-A corporate or its licensee. Kamala Harris can stop at a 7-11 for some Doritos but it's not a 71-1 corporate event.

Even if only 30% of McDonald's USA customers are hardcore Democrats, that's a lot of business to risk.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-best-time-to-buy-a-house-is-a-one-week-window-and-its-almost-here?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=ad&utm_mailing=ARD_Daily_PAID_092124&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=648f12966f55376d1b0aa6b2&cndid=74282674&hasha=ca5caf0913d43d3ab62b376974bbf954&hashb=b3717d713a412f140fae41dc73de1d1fc0df8559&hashc=a1e52bb9d898380b39f0967fe260b980ceb054e5370d4c03b65fd5d03e671249&esrc=IDCONDENAST_REGGATE&utm_term=ARD_DAILY_PAID

Give Franchisees a Break on Remodels

Want franchisees to get on board with remodels? Opinion by Maze

Don't Miss This Comment...

Anonymous says:

"When the pandemic hit, CK and the entire company sheltered in place while *we* worked in our restaurants and kept the business running alone"

The original post is at:

When the pandemic hit...fegroupblog

When the pandemic hit...

You’re right.

When the pandemic hit, CK and the entire company sheltered in place while *we* worked in our restaurants and kept the business running alone. That period was one of the most rewarding times of my career. We learned the rules, implemented CDC guidelines, and took every step to keep operations going, we did all of it without their help. Their help came, maybe 2 months in, in the form of a 17 page compliance manual. Rather than help, they created rules.

Then came the most profitable run in our history, achieved completely without their help. They were too busy on Zoom calls, talking about what we were actually doing.

During this time, we learned how expensive the dining room is and how efficiently we can operate with proper staffing in our DT. Our current business model is broken, they simply take too much out to allow us to staff for growth. This is an absolute fact.

The lack of value current leadership brings became painfully clear. They don't help—they complicate things, creating problems where there are none. I’ll never forget the perfect COVID commercial Blake/NOA produced. It hit every right note, yet it was ignored and instead ran terrible commercials, missed a golden opportunity to truly connect in an emotional way with the American public who at the time were absolutely glued to their TVs. Why? Because they hated the NOA. They sacrificed a golden moment for their own lack of emotional control.

It’s obvious: the current senior leadership team has backed itself into a corner, outsourcing everything, even their own jobs to 3rd party vendors and volunteer owner-operators. They’ve squeezed every dollar with minimal effort, decimated institutional knowledge, and eliminated any perceived threats to their power. The culture is nearly destroyed and it’s on purpose, it makes no sense in any world.

We need real leadership—leaders who love what we do, serves others, and values the business as more than a transaction. Our leadership, our restaurants, our teams are the engine that powers this entire system. Every dollar is earned in our restaurants, and the SLT only adds hurdles, not solutions. They take, they do not give. They take and give nothing but a competing brand using money earned by us.

If we stand together—align with the NOA, set clear demands that remove barriers, and push for leadership that works *with* us—there’s a path forward.

The brand isn’t broken, the systems are outdated, and corporate leadership is the biggest threat to our future.

United, we can fix what's wrong and move this business forward. The future is bright if we get out of our own way, if those who play games stop, if the ones who must have their way just sit down, listen and help. If everyone agrees to disagree at times, but remains united in building what we are capable of being we have plenty of room for incremental and sustainable growth.

So long as the subjects are fighting each other, the king can pop his next bottle of Champagne and go about his day, going for his run, checking ESPN scores, and figuring out how to squeeze more out of the efforts of others with as little effort as possible while claiming credit for all that is good while blaming others for mistakes.

Just another day at the office, restaurants are beneath him.

.

sbuks

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/starbucks-sets-out-redefine-restaurant-tech-again

Are We Done With McHarris?

This is one last post about the Kamala Harris and McDonald's issue. It seems to have run its course, and I'm told she isn't going to use McDonald's in her commercials anymore. That doesn't mean Trump/Vance won't still mention it, but probably with less frequency. It is disappointing that news reporters in their 20s and 30s expect businesses to produce employment records from forty years ago. Of course, if Kamala hadn't ever worked at McDonald's, there would be nothing to reveal.

Harris touts her time working at McDonald's. Will it help? - LA Times

McDonald's & Dunkin' Most Popular QSRs

87% of households visited McDonald's at least once in the last 12 months

Study of McDonald's $5.00 meal deal by same research firm (name and e-mail required)

Multiple Issues at Subway

Meat slicers, store remodels, discounting, etc. - Franchise Times

As Expected, $5 Meal is Forever

“Together with our franchisees, we’re committed to keeping our prices as affordable as possible,” Joe Erlinger

First McDonald's Paycheck

https://x.com/i/status/1833592944869388675

Subway Franchisees Send in Zarco

In change from Coke to Pepsi some balk at signing agreements - Maze

https://twitchy.com/dougp/2024/09/06/here-are-some-details-about-the-august-jobs-report-the-biden-and-harris-wont-be-highlighting-n2400602

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2024/09/04/breitbart-business-digest-inflation-leaves-the-middle-class-too-poor-to-shop-at-dollar-stores/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_campaign=20240905

Breakfast Optional at Taco Bell

Franchisees have the option to serve or not to serve breakfast

https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/taco-bell-to-give-franchisees-choice-to-opt-out-of-breakfast/?spMailingID=124915&puid=2655121&E=2655121&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=124915

Former McDonald's VP Makes Good

It doesn't happen that often that a former McDonald's exec goes on to a successful position elsewhere. Debbie Stroud appears to be the exception.

Whataburger CEO retiring - Stroud takes post - Rest Business

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-stroud-88149540/details/experience/

Life is Political - Like it or Not

Kamala Harris' claim that she once worked for McDonald's continues to attract considerable attention. So far, McDonald's Corp. has responded with "no comment." While this is dangerous ground because no corporate favor can be shown to any candidate, isn't this a chance to reinforce the fallacy of the Joint Employer concept? 

Shouldn't one of the pajama boys be able to put together a statement that says, "These people don't work for us, and we know nothing about them?" And/or "We don't keep records of franhiceee's employees?"

A proper nonpartisan statement would be better than leaving the questions hanging, which only allows the media to speculate that McDonald's Corp. is hiding something.

McDonald's is getting a lot of attention on the campaign trail - Yahoo

High End Burger Chains Struggling

"Burgers are great and people still love them. But there are a lot of brands that sell them, so if you’re going to get into the business you’d better be on your game" - Jonathan Maze

And McDonald's management is focused on testing a larger, more expensive hamburger?

Big Arch - massive and satisfying - review