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McDonald's franchisees say the company's turnaround plan is going to fail and eventually force operators out of business, according to a new survey. "The system is broken," one franchisee wrote in response to the survey, by Janney Capital Markets. "There is no leadership, no plan, no respect for operators or their investment or bottom line."
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Another wrote: "The future looks very bleak. I'm selling my McDonald's stock. The morale of franchisees is at its lowest level ever." Added a third: "We will continue to fall and fail." The franchisees' six-month outlook for the company's U.S. business was the worst in more than 11 years of the survey.
Franchisees operate about 90 percent of the roughly 14,000 McDonald's locations in the U.S. They were surveyed after a summit in which executives from the company's headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, unveiled their plans for the company's future. Those plans include adding upscale, customizable burgers to the menu and improving food quality.
More than a half-dozen operators said the summit was a complete waste of their time. "Instead of acknowledging and solving the real problems facing us today, they chose to pretend that everything is normal and to look at what the restaurant of the future will be," one franchisee wrote. "They did nothing to address what the REAL problems are in our system: significant financial problems for owner/operators and menu complexity. ... It's as if they have NO CLUE of what our world looks like."
Another said the costs of the upgrades would force some franchisees out of business. "Why go out to a cheerleading camp when you don't have a direction in mind and the team is in shambles," the franchisee wrote. "This is going to take some time. Only the franchisees with minimal or no debt can ride it out. There will be a lot of fallout and many franchisees will be forced to leave the system with little or nothing."
Most franchisees cited costs as a major hurdle to the turnaround plan. They said that aggressive promotions by McDonald's, along with lagging sales, have bankrupted them and that they can't afford any new investments in their stores.
Equipment for the new customizable burgers, called Create Your Taste, will reportedly cost between $120,000 and $160,000. "Leadership is out of touch with the financial realities that owner/operators are facing. This is not the time to ask us to take on significantly more debt," one franchisee wrote. "The restaurant of the future will cost a lot of money and will be even more labor-intensive than the stores already are. This is a step backwards."
Many franchisees also complained that the menu keeps expanding despite promises from corporate that it would be slimmed down to help speed up customer service. "They say they are going to simplify the menu and then add the Sirloin Burger and new ingredients," one franchisee wrote. "They are continually forcing new products on the owners to try and drive sales, but the new products continue to slow service and frustrate managers and crew in the restaurants."
Others complained that executives seemed confused about what kind of restaurant they wanted McDonald's to be. The chain is trying too hard to be "all things to all people," one franchisee wrote. Another said: "I came away from the summit completely confused. McDonald's management does not know what we want to be. Expensive (and slow) custom burgers in the same restaurant where we sell the Dollar Menu?"
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Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
It is true that menu complexity is a bad thing for a restaurant. Less is more when it comes to menu items.
And McDonalds and BK just need to give up on the gourmet burger angle they've desperately been pushing, its not your target demographic, within your specialty, or your capabilities. Make cheap fast food, its what you are good at.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
And McDonalds and BK just need to give up on the gourmet burger angle they've desperately been pushing, its not your target demographic, within your specialty, or your capabilities. Make cheap fast food, its what you are good at.
Yeup.
If I want a "specialty burger" i'm going to 5 guys or fatburger or something like that.
I go to McD's (and rarely) for cheap sustenance (questionable) when I'm in a hurry.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
5 guys? Gourmet?
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Grey Templar wrote: It is true that menu complexity is a bad thing for a restaurant. Less is more when it comes to menu items.
And McDonalds and BK just need to give up on the gourmet burger angle they've desperately been pushing, its not your target demographic, within your specialty, or your capabilities. Make cheap fast food, its what you are good at.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis Ehh, McDonald's is now for broke stoners.......no matter how hard they try, you can't fix thsir image of low end fast food.
hell, they never used pink slime. But people think they do.
jasper76 wrote: I heard rumblings that they were considering selling breakfast all day. They should have started doing that like 20 years ago.
This would be a great idea from a customer perspective. I think all of us Americans (at least!) can remember just missing McD's breakfast. OTOH, wouldn't this also be a problem of menu complexity?
Cannot remember the last time I ate at a McD's......might have to hit one todayfor the nuggets
Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
No longer defending the US Military or US Gov't. Just going to ""**feed into your fears**"" with Duffel Blog Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
Warning: Stupid Allergy
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend
DE 6700
Harlequin 2500
RIP Muhammad Ali.
Jihadin, Scorched Earth 791. Leader of the Pork Eating Crusader. Alpha
jasper76 wrote: I heard rumblings that they were considering selling breakfast all day. They should have started doing that like 20 years ago.
This would be a great idea from a customer perspective. I think all of us Americans (at least!) can remember just missing McD's breakfast. OTOH, wouldn't this also be a problem of menu complexity?
The Egg McMuffin is the only thing on the menu worth buying, unless you need some McNuggets to proxy asteroids for X-Wing. They could easily drop half of their menu and almost no one would notice.
jasper76 wrote: I heard rumblings that they were considering selling breakfast all day. They should have started doing that like 20 years ago.
This would be a great idea from a customer perspective. I think all of us Americans (at least!) can remember just missing McD's breakfast. OTOH, wouldn't this also be a problem of menu complexity?
Probably. However, at the risk of seeming unhip, I actually like several of the breakfast items at McDonalds, but their non-breakfast food is disgusting and literaly makes me sick both coming and going.
I'd think they'd at least initially see a surge in business from people like me, who wouldn't otherwise go to McDonald's for lunch/dinner at all.
Jihadin wrote: Cannot remember the last time I ate at a McD's......might have to hit one todayfor the nuggets
I do like the nuggets and the fries. Sometimes a pie. That's about it. I used to like the Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit, but it's too greasy for me, now.
They are like your array of McMuffin and McBisuit options, but instead of a muffin or a biscuit, the "bread" is two pancakes loaded with splotches of maple syruppy tasting stuff.
They've been around for many years now.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/04/16 17:21:59
Like a Sausage or Egg McMuffin but replace the biscuit with maple syrup-infused pancakes. They are newish, as in they have been on the menu for probably a decade or more.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/04/16 17:22:39
jasper76 wrote: the "bread" is two pancakes loaded with splotches of maple syruppy tasting stuff.
It's lard...
Or Crisco!
kronk wrote:Same thing!
Whoa whoa whoa hold now.....Crisco and fried chicken..............
Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
No longer defending the US Military or US Gov't. Just going to ""**feed into your fears**"" with Duffel Blog Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
Warning: Stupid Allergy
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend
DE 6700
Harlequin 2500
RIP Muhammad Ali.
Jihadin, Scorched Earth 791. Leader of the Pork Eating Crusader. Alpha
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
jasper76 wrote: I heard rumblings that they were considering selling breakfast all day. They should have started doing that like 20 years ago.
This would be a great idea from a customer perspective. I think all of us Americans (at least!) can remember just missing McD's breakfast. OTOH, wouldn't this also be a problem of menu complexity?
It might play into menu complexity and it might not. It probably falls under complexity of a different sort, though. When I worked at McFoodplace, we had several flatgrills for food prep, with one being designated the "breakfast grill". What this meant in practice was that eggs and pancakes got made on that grill, and only that grill. When breakfast was over, the grill was cleaned and shut down for the day. However, any breakfast meat (sausage and bacon and ham) was cooked on the other two grills. When breakfast ended, we tossed some water on them to wash away the pork taste and started slappin' burger patties down on them. Serving breakfast all day would mean having at least one fewer grills to prepare burger patties during the rest of the day. We had 3 grills in total at my McDougal's; one for breakfast and two for meat. Breakfast all day would mean only one of those grills would be serving burgers all day long. You can, at absolute most (and against the training video instructions) get 40 regular burger patties on a grill at the same time. 36 is standard. That may seem like a lot, but bear in mind "grilled" chicken patties get prepared on the same grill, which means you have less space for burgers. Oh, and quarter-pounder patties gotta get cooked, too. They go on the same grill (and take longer to make, and you get fewer of them on a grill due to size) so that's even less space to cook regular burgers on.
Breakfast 24/7 would be nice, but it would be a logistical nightmare. Any McBurgerjoint seriously considering it would need to install another grill in the kitchen, and those food prep areas are cramped enough as it is.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
This thread has been an excellent MickeyDee's commercial. Ima go nom on some now while I recover from the concenrtated awesomeness of the new SW trailer.
5000pts 
6000pts 
3000pts
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)