Posted on 04/23/2015 1:22:19 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
You probably saw the story yesterday that McDonald’s had yet another rough quarter, with sales down globally yet again. I didn’t think it was worth blogging again after reading this part, but please indulge me before we get to the good stuff:
Shares of the fast-food company were up almost 5 percent in early trading. At midday, they remained 3 percent higher at $97.70 as investors shrugged off declines in quarterly earnings and sales.
McDonald’s global sales at restaurants open at least 13 months fell a worse-than-expected 2.3 percent in the first quarter, and the company warned of another drop in April.
Net income tumbled 32.6 percent to $811.5 million, and revenue was down 11 percent at $5.96 billion.
No biggie — Wall Street had already priced in another bad quarter, but maintaining confidence that new CEO Steve Easterbrook is busy working on a turnaround plan.
That was certainly my position (I’m not a shareholder) on the matter. Easterbrook would, I assumed, pare down the menu, maybe improve the beef, and (please! please! please!) put the beef tallow back into their formerly world-class french fries. “Wait and see” seemed to be the prudent thing to do before blogging one more time about McDonald’s.
But I can tell you right now: McDonald’s is almost certainly doomed. Or at the very least, Easterbrook is the wrong guy to head up the burger chain — any burger chain, for that matter.
To understand why I’ve come to this conclusion, read the very next line from the story:
Easterbrook plans to unveil his plan for turning McDonald’s into a “modern, progressive burger company” on May 4.
Now maybe I should withhold judgement until I see this plan next week. Maybe a bold headline like “McDonald’s Is Doomed” is just the kind of baseless clickbait fear-mongering I try to resist indulging in.
But a progressive burger company? Really?
How about a barber shop with shampoo laced with Nair? No, that doesn’t seem like a good idea to you? Let’s talk about it at my bar, where I water down the scotch. No, you’d rather not? Well, that’s how I feel about a “modern, progressive burger company.”
A progressive burger chain is like a quiet rave, a smoke-free poker game, or a free & fair Chicago election.
A burger chain serves up the sandwich version of meat & potatoes — the very antithesis of “progressive” anything. A fast-food burger is supposed to be simple, hearty, wholesome, perhaps-not-entirely-healthy fare designed for families on a budget and on the go.
It’s not wraps. It’s not tofu. It’s not sprouts. It’s a burger and fries, ably prepared from decent ingredients at a price that encourages people to indulge. In short, it’s nothing of which Michelle Obama is ever going to approve — not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Easterbrook is misusing the word “progressive” just as badly as American “progressives” do every time they use it. But I doubt it, at least until Easterbrook’s plan is revealed.
But how “progressive” will his plan turn out to be?
This shouldn’t be rocket math. Progressivism has come to mean top-down, pre-engineered, overpriced, “we know what’s best for you,” nannystatism — which is not what I consider to be a fun meal with the kids.
A fun meal with the kids is decent, fast, inexpensive dining on American food. There’s nothing “progressive” about it. And any attempt to force that square peg into the round hole of our hungry mouths is doomed to failure.
Would it surprise you to learn that Easterbrook is a Brit?
Me, neither.
Meet you at Steak ‘n Shake?
Egg Nog Shake and Pumpkin Pie in November and December!
A big Mac does sound good right now.
I just opened a large can of McDonald’s coffee ,yum ,will they still sell it if they go bust ?
lolololololololol
In another article, the CEO says McDonalds is trying to serve the upscale crowd.
“With the goal of revitalizing McDonald’s as a modern, progressive burger company, delivering a contemporary customer experience, Steve Easterbrook became President and CEO of the world’s largest foodservice company in early 2015.”
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/leadership/steve_easterbrook.html
“My overall vision is for McDonald’s to be seen as a modern, progressive burger company, delivering a contemporary customer experience. Modern is about getting the brand to where we need to be today, and progressive is about doing what it takes to be the McDonald’s, our customers will expect tomorrow.
We are already moving more assertively in this direction, with actions that delight our customers and energize our brand. For example, we recently committed to enhance the benefits to employees at company-owned restaurants in the U.S., including a wage increase and paid time off for full and part-time for employees.
In March, we announced in the U.S. that we will stop using antibiotics that are important to human medicines, and are checking supply chain within the next two years. And there are plans to feature 100% sirloin burgers for a limited time in the U.S., along with a current test on all-day breakfast.
We also undertook a significant effort to excite our customers and bring the world together virtually with I’m Lovin It 24. About 70,000 people participated in the event, which included 24 hours of McDonald’s inspired disruptive creativity in major cities around the world. And it garnered more than 2 billion impressions across public relations stories and social media interactions.”
Yeah...McD is doomed. They are clueless about what made them successful to begin with.
...
A progressive burger chain is like a quiet rave, a smoke-free poker game, or a free & fair Chicago election.
It could be he has his eye more on government regulators, Wall Street, the media, and assorted nuisances than on consumers.
Maybe the assumption (a questionable one, to be sure) is that the customers will always be loyal but there are plenty of other people out there the McD's has to worry about.
WT# is disruptive creativity
Better burgers available near me, instead of McDonalds: In N Out, The Habit, Five Guys, Boardwalk, Carl’s, to name a few.
They all have equal or better fries, too.
Which begs the question: “Why would I go to a McDonalds for a burger and fries?”
The very last thing I want in a burger and fries, is “progressive.” On my high school facebook page, we rave over the old burger joint next to the school. Fifty years ago ain’t “progressive.”
BTW it was “Burger Q” on Whittier Blvd.
Thugs may be a factor in some of these cases but the article says 700 will be closed and that includes some in Asia.
Anyway, yes, there was a story posted on Free Republic in the past 2 months of this young man who got killed at a McDonald’s down near College Station.
I have seen thug hangouts; not so much ever at a McDonald’s. There was a convenience store that was obviously, a hangout for drug deals or something. That place got cleaned up.
Who’s that cute actress and what movie is that fries are like Crack clip from?
As for MacD’s - downsizing capsizing couldn’t happen to a nicer fast food chain. They caringly serve up unpleasant salt-fat-cornsyrup food chock full of food additives without regard for their customer’s health.
If you want a burger, go to Juicy Burger or Smash Burger, or Five Guys etc. McDonald’s Burgers are crap compared to these places and McDonald’s charges not much less.
I don’t know about doomed. They’re still making tons of money which gives them time to figure it out. Most places would love to have one of McD’s bad quarters. But they are in a serious identity crisis. They need to figure out where they fit in this new world where fastfood can actually taste good and be served in a pleasant environment all for about the same price McD charges. The days of focusing on a 60 second turn around are gone.
I don’t know.
We have a local McDonalds run by a francise owned by nice family.
I swung by and bought their new chicken tomatoe lettace sandwich and a salad and coffee for 7 dollars. Good tasting meal at good price and timely.
I got food poisoning from their burgers last year and don’t give a sh*t what befalls them now.
They are doing ok. They need to get rid of additives like msg and get back to the basics and have good tasting food.
http://www.businessinsider.com/19-facts-about-mcdonalds-that-will-blow-your-mind-2012-4?op=1
But profits haven't risen, and that's the problem. McDonald's has the same earnings per share as they did five years ago. There is no earnings growth. They are losing share to others who make a better product, even if it costs more. This is going to be a tough ship to right, but they can do it if they take some risks and offer, finally, some innovation.
I bet they wish they'd never sold off Chipotle.
“I swung by and bought their new chicken tomatoe lettace sandwich and a salad and coffee for 7 dollars.”
I guess you are their target customer, now. Someone like myself, inclined to buy a double cheeseburger and fries, is not. Since they don’t cater to my business anymore, I won’t bother their stores with my money. You, of course, are welcome to do so.
But McDonald’s wasn’t built on selling 20 billion “chicken tomato lettuce sandwiches and salads”...
I think you are overacting. Everything you want is there, some on the dollar menu. For under 3 dollars for all of it.
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