A Free Copy of the Recent WSJ Article

 How McDonald's Lost Its Value Edge - WSJ/MSN

I rarely post articles from The Wall Street Journal because their firewall is quite expensive. I assume their website membership doesn't include many small businesspeople.  But if we wait a little while, they often allow another publication to run their articles. As is the case with this recent article about McDonald's and Value. If it looks familiar, it's because I posted the original WSJ article a few days ago.

Don't get me wrong, the WSJ is one of the finest publications in the world. If you subscribe and you use it, it's well worth the money. However, you shouldn't join  the WSJ expecting a lot of links to their articles to appear here, because they won't.

NRN on Success of SnackWraps

Snack Wrap likely driving repeat visits

What's the Impact on Service Times?

CosMc drinks to be tested in Wisconsin and Colorado - Maze

Why in the world would management continue to use the "CosMc" name? It's already failed in testing and nobody knows what it means or remembers that it was ever part of the McDonaldland platform.

After spending a few billion developing the McCafe brand, why not just make this an extension of that brand? Something like "McCafe Limited (or Unlimited)". Or call it McCafe Plus, or just add " + " sign. It's silly to try to build a new brand name out of nothing.

At least consumers have some connection to McCafe - nobody knows what CosMc is or was.

WSJ on Value and Discounting Disputes

Heather Haddon spoke with numerous industry folks about QSR "Value".

Bottom line - the corporate guys always make the franchisees vote until they get it right.

How McDonald's Lost its Value Edge - WSJ

7/28/25 - A free copy of this article is now available at:

WSJ-MCD article on MSN.com

Good Day for MCD Shareholders

McDonald’s Corp announced Tuesday a quarterly cash dividend of $1.77 per share of common stock, maintaining its impressive 49-year streak of consecutive dividend increases. 

Go East Young Woman

President of In-N-Out Moving Family to Franklin, TN

Will Snack Wraps Save MCD Third Quarter?

We've discussed how new menu introductions are often intended to impress Wall Street. That's why we're seeing a flood of feel-good news articles about how well Snack Wraps are doing. 

I can see that if sales are going well, running out of a condiment or product "eventually" can happen. However, the supply chain should contain enough product volume so that the restaurants will eventually burn through the inventory, rather than running out at the beginning of the promotion. Unless incompetent personnel were mismanaging the supply chain.

Lettuce speculate that shortages could well be a planned event to create the aura of success in preparation for management's conference call with analysts, scheduled for August 6th. 

The pajama boys and girls seriously need a win. If the endless discounting and snack wraps don't increase traffic, management will have to answer some hard questions.

In other words, snack wraps have to work, even if it's partially McSpin.

Snack Wrap comes out of the gate hot - NRN

Early return on Snack Wraps are apparently good - Maze

Snack Wrap frenzy leaves McDonald's short on lettuce - NBC

More on Tax Bill From Quick & Assoc.

A summary of nine important tax changes that may affect you

3 Reasons to Separate Corporate CEO and Chair Positions

Numer One: "..... it is the board of directors that votes to increase executive pay. Accordingly, when the CEO is also the chair, a conflict of interest arises, as the CEO is voting on their own compensation. Although a board probably includes some members who are independent of management (as required by legislation), the chair/CEO can influence the activities of the board, which allows for potential abuse of the chair position."

From: Investopedia- financial-edge 

Egg Prices Continue to Fall

Prices fall for third straight month - Newsnation

Big Beautiful Bill Good for Franchisees

     

 Says the International Franchise Association

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.