Posted on 01/23/2014 6:59:04 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's reported disappointing sales for its fourth quarter Thursday, as the world's largest hamburger chain saw fewer customers visit its restaurants.
The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company says global sales slipped 0.1 percent at established locations. In the U.S., where it recently revamped its Dollar Menu to include items that cost a little more, the figure fell 1.4 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Jack in the Box is better.
Better value better food.
Compared breakfast prices at Starbucks vs. McDonalds one week.....MCD was only cheaper by about $2.50. For that difference I will go to Starbucks.
Some of us cannot afford the 2.50 or anything.
I go without breakfast so my kids can eat better and I shop for clothes at the thrift shop so I can clothe my kids better.
“yes the cost of eating at McD’s is way too high for the product you get.”
As long as the sausage biscuit is $1 it is a bargain; 7-11 offers the same, but McD’s tastes better. Just don’t buy a drink...
The $1 menus are the only thing keeping these places open as far as I can see.
“To be fair though, the couple of McD stores I visit do seem to be staffed with some very polite, hard-working young people.”
In my area they are 100% Hispanic, very polite, and will get your order correct 90% of the time...
yes that item is a fair price. (the number of McD items at fair prices has shrunk, however)
the fries are not nearly as good as prior.
but the coffee has gotten better.
my biggest problem with McD is that it causes me to barf it right back up. i think it must be one of their famous chemical additives? I do not barf up BurgerKing (and I did not barf up McD’s years ago...).
my second biggest problem with McD (if I needed another one, ha!) is that their prices on most of their stuff have just gone up too high, it isn’t worth it anymore
I was a very good customer for their $1.00 any-size coffee promotion over the last year or so because it is very good coffee for a great price, Newman’s Own coffee brand, but they recently ended that deal.
I would occasionally get additional items at the drive-through, but no longer go there due to the increased coffee prices.
I agree; I only “pimp” the plain sausage biscuit. I can’t eat the Big Macs anymore (which are great, but make me barf and now cost too much). At Burger King I can’t even finish a Whopper (too big, and I’m a fat slob); the Whopper Jr. is good (and cheap - though I haven’t had one in a while).
The prices on the “meals” have definitely gone too high; the lines at these places are much shorter than they used to be (the “new normal”.
I’ve noticed they’ve also “Hispanicized” their menus a lot as well, for the “replacement Americans” that increasingly make up the American public. I never see them in Taco Bell (all of which makes me barf), though oddly enough they pack a nearby KFC.
interesting that the Big Macs make u barf, they do me too!
I really, really think there must be a new chemical in them???
the prices on the drinks and fries are almost outrageous.
if forced to eat at McD’s I tend to get a fish sandwich (only I don’t eat most of the krappy white bread buns... so that reduces it in size a lot... and I sure wish they’d get back to a full slice of cheese... !)
but at least it doesnt barf up.
the BurgerKing whoppers are much better I think.../
and yes, sometimes I can’t finish one (used to eat 3 double whoppers with fries!)
i am much much more energy efficient than I used to be,
I remain just as fat but only consume a third of the chow I used to!
how’s that for a positive attitude!?
“interesting that the Big Macs make u barf, they do me too! I really, really think there must be a new chemical in them???”
I attribute it to age; I’m in my early 40s, and when I was younger and couldn’t get enough of them I didn’t barf. At the same time, I never saw old people in McDonalds; I figured that was why...
“I tend to get a fish sandwich (only I don’t eat most of the krappy white bread buns... so that reduces it in size a lot... and I sure wish they’d get back to a full slice of cheese... !)”
Smart choice; you wait longer for it, because they don’t have them sitting under the lamps - better chance of getting a fresh sandwich. Well worth it...
“the BurgerKing whoppers are much better I think.../
and yes, sometimes I can’t finish one (used to eat 3 double whoppers with fries!). i am much much more energy efficient than I used to be, I remain just as fat but only consume a third of the chow I used to!”
Too funny; same here. My problem was that I ate five small meals a day, so I could never fit much at one sitting. I tried to eat two regular Whoppers when they had a promotion, and was sick within minutes...
One sign that fast food is gross is how quickly any uneaten stuff starts to smell horrible. Many years ago we were heading up to Montreal, and stopped at a McDs here in NJ. I had these coupons where you get a free hamburger with any purchase of a Big Mac; I tried to order three pairs like that (along with some combo meal for the fourth person in the car), and I guess the foreigner at the window didn’t understand. When we got our food she handed out these bags and we started driving; turned out we had all of our food, but instead of three hamburgers there were SIXTEEN of them in there (we were only charged for what we’d ordered). Around Albany (about three hours’ drive) we tried to eat some of the leftovers, but they smelled absolutely horrible; fast food has about a 30 minute shelf life...
My favorite fast food story was from twenty years ago; my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were driving up to the Catskills on a day trip (along the Hudson River), and stopped at McDonalds on Route 17 North in NJ for breakfast, a McDonalds in Newburgh NY for lunch, and had dinner at the McDonalds in Saugerties NY (right off the NY Thruway). I still can’t figure out why she ever married me; all the warning signs were there (she doesn’t like the stuff)...
I’ve been very happy since In N Out came here to Texas.
3 McD meals in a single day sounds like suicide duty?
ha!
but yes, I used to eat McD’s too and like them well enough ... and didn’t barf. BUT it isn’t Old Age because I can still eat BKing and not barf!
it is SOMETHING in the McD product ... I’m pretty sure of it.
If I ran the company (ha ha) I would check the chemicals list for sure. Not really good business because a lot of customers don’t like too many chemical additives...
and then I’d offer an alternative bun or bread, something reasonably healthy...
Finally, since none of that really should cost McD very much to accomplish, I’d look at offering a few more dollar items again (which they are right now moving AWAY from)...
just because right now we remain in this awful recession and it seems we may be in for another 3 years of it....
I do realize that the profit margin can’t be as good on a dollar item as it is on a $6 meal... but there’s still a need and.. with careful selection, I bet McD can still come up with a couple more decent dollar menu offerings..
if people know that they will find something decent that they more or less like, for a buck... they WILL start patronizing McD again. AND they will move up the price scale, selecting fancier items, when the economy eventually does recover. Meaning, McD would retain its customer base relatively intact (albeit at a smaller profit margin)... I think retaining its large customer base...instead of watching it shrink and shrink... would be very good business strategy for the company
just my 2 cents worth, if they want more business strategy advice they can pay me
The problem is that the $1 items were designed as add on loss-leaders for the pricier options. But people stuck to the dollar items forcing them to figure out ways to reduce costs on them. Which is why they shaved the double cheeseburger down to a “McDouble”, got rid of the nuggets and ultimately jacked some of the items up by 20 cents or so.
Local McDs here has been running a $1.99 Happy Meal special for a couple months now. Clearly designed to get parents to come in with their kids and buy higher margin items for themselves. But in the last couple weeks I’ve noticed that they are providing a small (vice kids size) soda and then doing a 10 cent upcharge.
Gee, maybe if they offered a big juicy flame-broiled burger without a lot a hideous crap on it.
I honestly think they’re pushing the limits of how cheap you can sell food; the ingredients, employees, etc. will simply make it far too unprofitable to stay in business. In that sense they are dealing with what so many other businesses have to deal with: a public bereft of disposable income. Even if I get TWO sausage biscuits, it is only costing me $2.14 (I have my own drink, from 2 litre bottles of soda that cost 5/$5); how is it worth opening your doors at that rate?
We’ve tightened our belts like many others; taking the family to these places or ordering pizza are simply a thing of the past.
“The problem is that the $1 items were designed as add on loss-leaders for the pricier options. But people stuck to the dollar items forcing them to figure out ways to reduce costs on them.”
Absolutely; they seem to be buying the government line that things are OK even though the consumers are clearly signaling that they are NOT. I’m shocked at how many people that used to be regulars at these places don’t go at all anymore; Obama has “fundamentally changed” America. On a positive note, a lot of Obama voters are being hurt by America’s “belt-tightening” - and that $15/hour will never happen...
They are advertising $.59 hamburgers here
Meanwhile, Dominos is advertising large three topping pizza Tuesday - Thursday for $7.95
I agree, and Starbucks sucks.
The "Sausage McGriddle" isn't too shabby of a breakfast sandwich. Sausage, egg, cheese between small thick pancakes.
-— , I bet McD can still come up with a couple more decent dollar menu offerings..
if people know that they will find something decent that they more or less like, for a buck... they WILL start patronizing McD again-—
They just did that. They have a lot of new $1 burgers with different sauces, onion, cheeses, etc.
My personal favorite is the buffalo ranch McChicken. Pretty good.
Now that sounds like some speecy, a-spicey real Eye-talian Pizza.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.