Posted on 09/25/2026 7:53:23 AM PDT by Red Badger
McDonald’s is spending billions of dollars to boost its franchises, an effort to cement its title as the leader in fast food amid growing competition.
The chain announced Wednesday that it will invest $8.5 billion by 2036 on a series of initiatives, including remodeling restaurants, retraining its 2 million employees and adding new menu items to target high-protein eaters.
About $5 billion will be spent in the next three and a half years alone, a combination of capital support as well as rent relief for franchises.
It’s all part of a multiyear strategy to win back diners and capture more market share. Last month, McDonald’s reported its slowest quarterly growth since 2025. The chain had blamed the decline on launching too many promotions, plus inadequate customer service and its massive World Cup promotion failing to attract eaters.
The new strategy, called “Next,” aims to make the chain “the first choice for more customers, more often — while making our restaurants stronger and easier to run,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a press release.
McDonald’s troubles are part of broader economic issues affecting all dining chains, with rising food prices causing customers to dine out less. The chain’s stock has fallen about 20% for the year.
What’s new? In addition to rent relief and capital support, some of that multibillion-dollar spend will be used for remodeling restaurants. McDonald’s mandates its franchises remodel every decade.
Images revealed on Wednesday show expansive dining rooms, bigger play areas and improved lighting. There are also redesigned kitchens that will use new AI tools to improve speed and efficiency, which the company said it expects to earn each restaurant an additional $100,000 in cash flow via savings.
McDonald’s also focused on changing its menu as it combats new competition that includes a revitalized Burger King, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at lite.cnn.com ...
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Permanent McRib or I’m never going back
This was over 40 years ago, but the McDonalds in Koblenz and Amsterdam were great. Beer was available on tap.
Once I discovered the restaurant at the Konigsbacher brewery in Koblenz, I no longer had a need to go to McDonalds. The restaurant had a great view of the Rhine, served great food, and had bock beer on tap year-round.
Got a text from a colleague yesterday - she was at McDonald’s and said a regular burger, small fries and a drink now cost $8 - and never again.
This is in California where just about everything is costly.
Ate there earlier this week. Sucked. I got the two-cheeseburger combo. Fries were decent, but the burger... what burger? The pickles were bigger and thicker than the patty.
Now then, went to Burger King this week too (I’m on the road so the calories don’t count) and I have to say the burger was awesome. The brought back the box and everything. It was hot, tasted good and there was actual meat on the bun. They recently re-did all their stuff too and it shows.
Neither come close to touching Hardee’s though. Best fast-food burger on the market.
Yep. In the 70s we’d stop there a lot as a family b/c almost everything was three for $1.00.
Later, in the 90s and early 2000s, my mother would take all the grandkids to McDonalds to order off the $1.00 menu - kids could either get the sundae or a wrap sandwich, and everyone was fed for under $6.00.
I also remember the 10 hamburgers or cheeseburgers for $1.00 in the 90s - people would order 30 at a time and freeze them.
No longer last time I was there, we got a McRib meal, another McRib separately, one drink - and two hamburger patties for the dogs - $32.
On of the changes would be to provide firearms and training for their employees so they will not get killed by black customers going berserk about the occasional cold fries or late order.
HIRING ROUND THE CLOCK SERIOUS SECURITY MIGHT HALT THE “TEEN MOBS”.
McDonald’s is your kind of place
They feed you rattlesnakes
French fries between your toes
Hamburgers up your nose
The last time I went in there
They fried my underwear
McDonald’s is your kind of place
I envision a cyberpunk_style solution. An automat with robots behind the scenes, drone deliveries and a front that a robot hoses off every few hours.
Lean into fake meat. Protein powders sprinkled onto “the product” like sugars at a coffee stand. Flavor shots.
No push of any button. All from the app, no exception. Just a brick you approach and walk away with whatever product puck that slides out of the machines sphincter onto the floor.
The food sucks if you want to call it that.
I now avoid McDonald’s. I don’t like having to use the kiosk to order, and I especially don’t like being charged for a cup of tap water. When I’m in the mood for fast food, the In-N-Out down the street is my first choice. Their food is inexpensive, your order is handled by real human beings, and a cup of water is still free.
McDonald’s charged 15 cents for a hamburger because the originators used a high-volume, low-cost business model designed around extreme efficiency instead of high profit margins per item.
When Richard and Maurice McDonald reopened their San Bernardino, California restaurant in 1948, they built the “Speedee Service System” to revolutionize fast food.
Several key strategies allowed them to keep prices low:
<><>Eliminated Waitstaff: They removed carhops and table service, requiring customers to walk up and order at a counter, which drastically cut labor costs.
<><>Redesigned Kitchens: They laid out their kitchen like an assembly line to reduce wasted employee movement and speed up preparation time to mere seconds.
<><>Limited Menu: They initially sold only a handful of items—hamburgers (15 cents), cheeseburgers (19 cents), fries (10 cents), and milkshakes or drinks (20 cents)—which simplified purchasing, storage, and prep.
McD’s Relied on High Volume: By making the food affordable compared to standard 35-cent diners, they attracted massive crowds, turning a tiny profit per burger into large overall earnings through sheer quantity sold.
Freddy’s is also a good alternative
I HATE kiosks for ordering. So I rarely stop unless it is drive through.
By jove! You are describing nirvana!
Cheers.
LOL. Rent relief and CapEx support are not major changes. That is spending to stop the ship from going down. And my bet is that the changes to the stores are to change them into the same gray, bland, interchangeable box that every other franchise has become so that they can be sold to someone else when the McDonald's goes under.
Back in the day when McDonalds was still new the food concept was 'new', prices reasonable and the staff was mostly young people having first-time, part time job. They looked like neighbors, not tough guys or illegals working cheap and the food was good and served hot.
It's always been easier to make food ahead of time and put in under lamps - the problem is the food tastes like it was cooked 'a while ago' and put under heat lamps for 15 minutes. Fries at Chick fil A are always hot. At McDonald's always 'warmed up for 15 minutes'... I wish them luck with the changes.
thier strategy of moving diners to the drive thru is crap. It takes so long to get through a line where there is only two cars ahead of you, it feels more like casual dining than fast food.
And yes, something has changed in the quality of thier food.
Or maybe, I just moved on to In-and-Out, Five Guys because they deliver better value.
For the record, I have never liked Burger King
I HATE using their kiosks. Just too much work.
I AGREE!
They suck worse than the food!
They go in a circle and you can’t back up!............
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